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ACCOUNT OP THIESK AO ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, 



BY 



WILLIAM GRAINGE, 

II 

Author of " The Battles and Battle Fields of Yorkshire," &c. 



LONDON : 

SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT. 

RIPON: A. JOHNSON AND CO., MARKET-PLACE. 

THIRSK: J. PACKER, MARKET-PLACE. 

1859. 



5517> 



'oe, 



• • • • 









PREFACE. 

In presenting the following little work to the notice of the 
public, the Author feels that no apology is needed for the 
choice of the subject, as the tract of country of which it treats 
has been but slightly noticed by any previous topographer. 
Much new matter has been obtained from different and various 
sources, and were I allowed to give them, the names of the 
gentlemen from whom it was derived would be a sufficient 
guarantee for its authenticity and correctness. 

The treatise on the Physical History of the district is from 
the pen of Mr. J. G. Baker, well known by his many publi- 
cations on the science of Botany. 

To the Clergy and Landowners of the country described, the 
Author acknowledges himself under great obligations, and takes 
this opportunity of tendering them his sincere thanks, for the 
readiness with which they supplied information relative to their 
respective parishes, families, and estates. 

An account of the parish of Topcliffe was intended to be 
comprised in this volume, but the matter relative to the more 
immediate vicinage of Thirsk accumulated to such an extent as 



IV. PBEFACE. 

to exceed the bulk at first proposed for the whole volume; — 
besides justice could not be done to it in a brief sketch, as it 
is of considerable extent, and the history of its owners long 
and interesting. 

In conclusion I have only to state that my aim has been to 
compress into the bulk of a portable guide book, much of the 
information usually found in the ponderous tomes of local 
history — and to the reader, kind or unkind, I have only to say 
bear in mind the admonition of England's oldest poet, " Dan 
Geffry": 

" For every word men may not chide or pleine, 
For in this world certain ne wight ther is 
That he ne doth or sayeth sometime amis." 

w. G. 

March, 1859. 



CONTENTS. 



Historical Introduction 

The Physical History of the District 

History of Thirsk . 

„ Carlton-Miniott 

„ Sand Hutton 

„ Sowerhy 

„ Bagby . 



" 


South Kilvington 


11 


Thirkleby 


11 


Hood Grange 


?? 


Filiskirk 


11 


Mount St. John 


i 

71 


Marderby Grange 


11 


Sutton-under-Whitstonecliif 


11 


Boltby . 


11 


Kirkby Knowle 


11 


New Building 


11 


Leake 


11 


Upsall . 


11 


Cowsby 


11 


Thorn ton-le- S treet 





PAGE. 


. 


1 


. 


. 13 


. 


. 41 


. 


. 149 


. 


. 154 


. 


159 


. 


170 


. 


176 


. 


188 


. 


201 


. 


205 


. 


214 


. 


218 


. 


219 


. 


221 


. 


223 


. 


234 


. 


249 


. 


262 


. 


283 


• 


288 



vi. 


CONTENTS. 


1 

PAGE. 


History 


of Wood End . 


. 293 


>» 


North Kilvington 


. 298 


„ 


Knayton-curn-Brawith 


. 309 


., 


Brawith 


. 310 


„ 


Borrowby . 


. 312 


?> 


Gueldable 


. 313 


?' 


Landmoth-with-Catto . 


. 314 


jj 


Crosby . 


. 316 



Arden Hall . . . .318 

Over Silton. . . . 322 

Kepwick . . . .332 

„ Osmotherley . . . 334 

„ West Harlsey . . . .340 

Thhnbleby . . . • 341 

„ Mount Grace Priory . . . 343 

The Hambleton Hills . . 349 

Appendix . . . . . 360 



THE VALE OF MOWBBAY. 



The Vale of Mowbray, so called from its Norman owners, the 
powerful barons of that name, forms the north-eastern portion 
of the great Vale of York, and extends along the foot of the 
Hambleton range of hills from the town of Hovingham to the 
borders of Cleveland, being more than twenty miles in length by 
five or six in breadth. Few parts of Yorkshire exceed this vale in 
beauty, combining, as it does into pictures of almost endless variety, 
the soft and mild landscape of the cultivated plain, with the stern 
an d grand features of mountain scenery. * The design of this work is 
to describe the most interesting objects in the northern part of this 
district, from the point in the Hambleton hills where the mountain 
range bends eastward, above the village of Kilburn, to the ruins 
of the priory of Mount Grace, including to the westward the parish 
of TopclhTe. 

The remains of antiquity scattered over this portion of coun- 
try, though not many, are interesting : the dry uplands of the 
Hambleton range present roads, circles, tumuli, and earthworks of 
the aboriginal Britons; while on the plain below are numerous 
traces of Roman, Saxon, Danish, and Norman occupation. 

* "The region below these hills on the west, is one of the pleasantest parts of 
Yorkshire, being in general fertile, well sheltered, and woody, with magnificent hills 
and mountains for the back ground of rich domestic pictures." — Phillips' Bivers, 
Mountains, and Sea Coast of Yorkshire, p. 56. 

B 



A THE VALE OF MOWBFvAY. 

The earliest inhabitants of the Vale of Mowbray, of whom we 
have any record, were the Brigantes, one of the most numerous 
and powerful of the British tribes. Their territory stretched 
across the island, and was situated between the Tweed and the 
Humber on the east, and the Eden and the Mersey on the west, in- 
cluding the modern counties of Yorkshire, Durham, Northumber- 
land, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire.* They were 
a fierce and warlike race, subsisting chiefly by hunting, w T hile their 
cattle grazed in pastures unbounded by any artificial fence ; their 
clothing was the skins of animals ; and their dwellings pits dug 
in the earth, covered with sods or fern. Their government was 
monarchical, but free, like that of all the Celtic nations. Their 
religion, which formed part of their government was Druidical, 
human sacrifices were sometimes offered to their Gods, and the 
eternal transmigration of souls was inculcated and believed ; many 
of their ceremonies bore a great resemblance to those of the Hebrews. 
Cartismandua, their queen, has gained an unenviable distinction 
in the pages of Tacitus, f for her treachery in giving up to the 
Romans, Caractacus the brave chief of the Silures, who had sought 
her protection. 

The first Roman general who received the submission of the 
Brigantes was Petilius Cerealis, a.d. 71. They were finally sub- 
dued by Agricoia, about the year 79. % 

The first care of the conquerors, after the subjugation of the 
country was to introduce their own laws and civilization, and by 
multiplying the wants of the inhabitants, inducing them to habits 
of industry, and finally to incorporate them with the Roman em- 
pire. The government of the Romans in Britain was a species of 
mild military rule, and their religion was the heathenism of the 
Pantheon; though doubtless Christianity was preached in this 
country during the period of their occupation. Their sway ex- 
tended over a space of four hundred years, during which time many 
great public works were accomplished. The conquered country was 

* Richard of Cirencester, Ptolemy, and Diodorus Siculus. 
+ Annals, B. xii. % Tacitus' Life of Agric. 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 6 

divided into provinces, each of them governed by a praetor and 
quaestor, the former charged with the general administration of 
the government, the latter with the management of the finances. 
The country of the Brigantes was formed into a province, styled 
Maxima Cesariensis, which contained twenty five towns or sta- 
tions, of which Eboracum, now York, was the capital. After the 
lapse of 1600 years many traces of Roman work yet remain, 
although in the Vale of Mowbray they are but scanty. There does 
not appear to have been any town or station of that people within 
its limits, a circumstance not a little surprising considering its 
fertility and beauty. Perhaps, in that age the plain was a forest 
devoted to wild beasts and hunting, and the neighbouring hills 
inhabited by the native Britons. That a road of Roman construc- 
tion intersected the country, a few miles west of the range of hills, 
we have undoubted evidence, not only in the names of places, all 
indicative of such a work, but in fragments of the road itself which 
have been discovered between Thirsk and Northallerton.* This 
road is generally called by antiquaries the eastern branch of 
Ermyn-street ; it came from the eastern side of Scotland, and 
divided into two branches at Catterick. The western branch went 
with the Ryknield-street as far as Aldborough, and thence pro- 
ceeded by way of Little Ouseburn to Helensford, where it crossed 
the Wharf over Bramham-moor to Aberford, Castleford, Doncaster, 
and Bawtry, thence across the Trent to Stainby. The eastern 

* The Roman roads are often distinguished by "street," or "gate," sometimes 
marked by the words "wath," "brough," and "thorn," the latter seldom far from 
old camps and mounds of importance. — Professor Phillips. 

If such names are sure proof of a Roman road, we have evidence in abundance to 
prove its existence between Thirsk and Northallerton, as in a distance of nine miles 
we have Thornbrough, Thornton-le-street, Thornton-le-beans, and Thornton-le- 
moor, four naoies of places in that short distance all indicative of Roman work. 

"At Thornton-le-Street," says Cade, " Here the Ryknield street separated from the 
road leading to Catterick, and stretched in a direct line by Sowerby-under-Cotcliff, 
crossed the Tees at Sockburn," 

About the year 1821, part of the Roman stratum was discovered at Sowerby-under- 
Cotcliffe, by some workmen throwing up a new road on the estate of Mr. Hirst, 
apparently leading from Thornton-le-Street towards Sockburn. 

It is a matter of dispute whether the name Eormen or Ermyn is properly applied 
to any portion of this road, which is situated in Yorkshire ; however, those who 
deny the continuance of the name thus far north, admit, that if the road is not 
Ermyn-street it is a continuation of it. 



4 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

branch ran from Catterick by Northallerton, Thirsk, Easingwold, 
Stamford-bridge, Market Weighton, and South Cave, then crossed 
the Humber, and ran by way of Wintringham, Lincoln, and 
Ancaster, to near Witham, where it united with the western 
branch above mentioned. 

Another road of very early time appears to have struck off from 
the main line a short distance south of Thirsk, and passed across 
Sowerby Field in a north-westerly direction, probably to join 
the great military way at some point between Catterick and 
Aldborough. Tne ridge, now called " Saxy," or " Sangsty-way," 
can yet be traced in the fields near the Thirsk Railway Station. 

Pressed by barbarian invaders at home, and weakened by their 
distant possessions, the Roman Emperors were at length compelled 
to withdraw their legions from Britain for the defence of their 
capital ;* and the effeminate inhabitants of this country, who had 
forgot the use of arms, were left defenceless to the mercy of the 
Picts and Scots, who, issuing in swarms from the north, laid the 
country waste, almost without resistance. Two years after the last 
Roman legion quitted this island, Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, 
the descendants in the fourth generation from Woden, one of the 
principal gods of the Saxons, embarked their army to the number 
of 1600 men in three small vessels, and landing in the isle of 
Thanet, immediately marched to the defence of the Britons. Having 
expelled the invaders, the fertility and riches of the country pre- 
sented a temptation too strong to be resisted by the ambition and 
cupidity of those newly acquired friends.f After nearly a century 
of war and bloodshed the Saxons prevailed, and the kingdoms of 
the Heptarchy were founded. Ida, a Saxon prince who landed at 
Flamborough with his army, completed the conquest of the counties 
of Northumberland and Durham, J of which he was proclaimed 
king. About the same time Ella, another Saxon prince, having 
conquered Lancashire and the greater part of Yorkshire, received 
the appellation of king of Deira. These two kingdoms were 

• A.D. 448. t Bede, Saxon Chron., Will, of Malm., Turner's Anglo Saxons, &c. 

X A.D. 547/ 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 5 

united in the person of Ethelfrith, grandson of Ida, and formed 
one of the most powerful of the Saxon kingdoms, under the title 
of Northumbria. 

In religion the Saxons were idolaters, and when they settled in 
Britain their idols, altars, and temples, soon overspread the 
country. They had a god for every day in the week. Thor, the 
god of thunder, represented Thursday. Woden, the god of battle, 
conferred his name on Wednesday. Friga, the goddess of love, 
presided over Friday. Seater, over Saturday, and had influence 
over the fruits of the earth. Tuyse gave his name to Tuesday. 
They also worshipped the sun and moon, who each conferred a 
name on one of the days of the week ; Sonan on Sunday and 
Monan on Monday. 

The Saxon conquest remodelled society in this country, and 
nearly re-named all the places in it.* From the Roman conquest 
we have only the names of a few places, the traces of a few roads, 
and the relics of a few camps and towns : — from that of the Saxons, 
we derive a population foremost in arts and arms of any in the 
world, and a language more progressive than any other in ex- 
istence, which threatens to supplant all others where it has once 
taken root.f 

" This invasion," says Mr. Turner, in his History of the Anglo 
Saxons, " must not be contemplated as a barbarisation of the 
country. The Saxons brought with them a superior domestic and 
moral character, and the elements of new political, juridical, and 
intellectual blessings. An interval of slaughter and desolation 
unavoidably occurred before they established themselves and their 
new systems in the island. But when they had completed their 

* Many places in the Yale of Mowbray yet retain their Saxon names notwith- 
standing- ihe changes to which they have been subjected — they may be distinguished 
by ending in " ton," " ham," "Ley," " Ing," and M field," as Kilvington, Knayton, 
Silton, Hutton, Carlton, &c. 

t " The English is not only the language of these realms and their dependencies 
in the four quarters of the world ; but also of another mighty empire beyond the wide 
Atlantic, and of the hundred realms of Hindustan ; and of that insular continent, 
which may be called the fifth division of the globe : and moreover that for the pur- 
poses of commerce, or literature, or by means of religious missionaries, it has become 
more or less introduced into almost every realm, and state, and territory on the face 



b THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

conquest, they laid the foundation of that national constitution, of 
that internal polity, of those peculiar customs, of that female mo- 
desty, and of that vigour and direction of mind, to which Great 
Britain owes the social progress, which it has so eminently 
acquired." 

The Saxons were converted to Christianity hy pope Gregory, 
surnamed the Great, who sent over missionaries from Rome for 
that purpose ; * and by the preaching of Augustine in the south and 
Paulinus in the north of England, the Christian religion made 
such rapid progress that it soon became the prevailing faith of the 
country. 

During the Saxon dynasty, England was divided into counties, 
hundreds, and tithings. These divisions as they now stand are 
said to owe their origin to king Alfred, f though others contend 
for a much earlier period. J Tithings are so called from the 
Saxon, because ten freeholders with their families composed one. 
These all dwelt together, and were sureties, or free pledges to 
the king for the good behaviour of each other. As ten families of 
freeholders made a town or tithing, so ten tithings composed a 
hundred or Wapontake, || which was governed by a bailiff, or high 

of the earth, we may then indeed, venture to call it the language of the world." — 
JVeele's Lectures on English Poetry. 

* A.D. 597. 
t Blackstone. X Whitaker's History of Manchester. 

|| " Though the terra Wapontake is evidently synonymous with Hundred, the deriva- 
tion is nut so obvious. Hoveden derives the term from Weapon tak, or touch, and 
says it was so called, because the governor of it was put into his place and held up a 
weapon or spear, and the elders of the tithing admitted him by tacking or touching 
their spears with his, as a token of their subjection." 

•' By others the term is derived from the Scandinavian word Vopnatak, resumption 
of arms (weapon's take) used to denote the termination of an All-thing, or assembly 
of the people. In early times it was the custom for all the people to go armed to 
those meetings, and many a bloody scene was the natural result. In order to remedy 
these evils, it was decreed about the end of the 11th century, that all who were pre- 
sent at the meeting should lay aside their arms and not resume them until the 
assembly broke up." — Mallet's Northern Antiquities. 

" It is more doubtful whether we may ascribe to the Danes alone the introduction 
of the word * Wapentake ' (Vaahentag) as the peculiar designation for a district. 
In the northern counties of England, viz. : Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, 
Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire, this term is still used instead of the customary one of 
'Hundred.* Yet there is some probability that it may have been derived from the 
circumstance that the Danes, like the ancient inhabitants of the North in general, 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 7 

constable, and had formerly a court, called Folkmote Scynemote, 
or TTapontake court, * for the trial of causes, which has now 
fallen into disuse. An indefinite number of these hundreds or 
Wapontakes made a county or shire, the rule of which was held 
by a shire reve or sheriff, upon whom its civil administration 
devolves. 

The Anglo Saxons were divided into four classes ; — men of 
birth — men of property — freemen, and serviles. Their money was 
in pounds, shillings, and pence ; twenty shillings made a pound, 
and twelve pence a shilling as at present, with this difference, 
however, that twenty shillings weighed a pound troy, hence the 
term. 

Religious festivals were instituted soon after the establishment 
of Christianity, which commenced on the eve of the day dedicated 
to the patron saint, and hence obtained in some places the name 
of Wakes. The village feasts yet exist, though their origin is 
generally forgotten. 

The institution of trial by jury in England belongs to this age, 
and was used both by Saxons and Danes, probably before they 
settled in this country. Originally a man was cleared of an accu- 
sation if twelve persons came forward and swore that they believed 
him innocent of the alleged crime, f This was a jury in its earliest 
form ; afterwards it became necessary that twelve peers or equals 
of the litigants, should hear the evidence on both sides, and that 
they on their oaths should say whether the accused was innocent 
or guilty. 

Besides trial by jury they had trial by ordeal of water and of 

elected their chiefs, and signified their assent to any proposition at the Things, by 
Vaabentag, or Vaabenlarm (sound, or clang of arms.) Vaabentag (Wapentake) might 
thus have become the name of a small district, having its own chief and its own 
Thing." — Worsaae's Danes and Norwegians in England. 

* The laws of Ethelred ordain that every Wapontake shall have its "thing," and 
" that a Gemot be held in every Wapentake, and the twelve senior Thanes go out 
and the reve with them, and swear on the relic that is given to them in hand, that 
they will accuse no innocent man, nor conceal any guilty one." — Thorpe's Laws of 
the Anglo Saxons. 

The Wapontake courts were abolished by statute 14th Edward III. 
t Turner's Anglo Saxons, iv. p. 337. 



8 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

iron. By the iron ordeal, the accused party carried a piece of red 
hot iron, three feet or nine feet according to the magnitude of the 
offence ; in the water ordeal, he plunged his hand into a vessel of 
boiling hot water up to the wrist in some cases, and to the elbow 
in others. These were only trials, their punishments consisted of 
banishment, slavery, branding, amputation of limb, mutilation of 
the nose, ears, and lips, plucking out the eyes, stoning, and hanging. 

The Saxons were not long permitted to enjoy their conquest in 
peace. In the middle of the eighth century the Danes began to ap- 
pear in their piratical barks on the shores of Northumbria, and in 
course of time made an entire conquest of the country, settling 
themselves in the spots they liked best ; thus adding to the already 
heterogeneous population of England, another element in the 
offspring of the daring sea kings of the north. 

The sea kings, says Turner, were a race of beings whom Europe 
beheld with horror. Without a yard of territorial property, without 
any towns or visible nations, with no wealth but their ships, no 
force but their crews, the sea kings swarmed upon the boisterous 
ocean and plundered in every district they could approach. Never 
to sleep under a smoky roof, nor to indulge in the cheerful cup 
over a hearth, were the boasts of these watery sovereigns ; who 
not only flourished in the plunder of the sea and its shores ; but 
who sometimes amassed so much booty, and enlisted so many fol- 
lowers, as to be able to assault provinces for permanent conquest. 
Piracy was reckoned so noble, that parents were even anxious to 
compel their children to the dangerous and malevolent occupation. 

From these adventurers the population of England received that 
spirit of maritime enterprize and daring, which makes them scorn 
the dangers of the deep, and spread their sails on every sea. 

The Vale of Mowbray received a large number of the new settlers, 
who named their villages from their own language, and more than 
one third of the places along the foot of the Hambleton hills yet 
retain names of Danish origin.* 

* All names of places ending in " by" (Dan " byr,") first a single farm, afterwards 
a town in general — these are very numerous in the Vale of Mowbray — as " Thirkilby," 
** Thirlby," " Kirkby," " Cowsby," &c. " Thorpe," a collection of houses, a village 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 9 

Upon the mass of population already existing in England of 
British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish origin, the conquest of William 
the Norman ingrafted a new race of kings, nobles, and warriors 
of foreign extraction. 

The inhabitants of Northumbria were amongst the last to bow 
their necks to the yoke of the conqueror. A violent struggle was 
made to expel the Normans, and York was the rallying point 
of the patriot army. To suppress this formidable insurrection, 
William repaired in person into the north, at the head of a power- 
ful army, swearing on his march by the " splendour of God," that 
he would not leave a soul of his enemies alive. For upwards of 
six months the city of York, under Waltheof, Earl of Northum- 
berland, held out against the Conqueror, and only yielded at last 
under the pressure of famine. The ruthless tyrant faithful to his 
oath, sacrificed Waltheof and all the principal nobility and gentry 
to his fury, and laid the whole country waste from the Humber to 
the Tees.* The scene of desolation was so complete that for nine 
years neither plough nor spade was put into the ground ; and 
such was the wretched condition of the inhabitants who escaped 
the sword, that they were forced to eat cats and dogs, horses, and 
even human flesh, to preserve their miserable existence, f The 
desolation of the Vale of Mowbray was so complete when the 
Domesday survey was taken, that one half of the manors within 
it are returned as waste. 

The conqueror parcelled out the lands among his followers, and 
the remnant of the original population sunk into the position of 
slaves. The chief land owners at the time of Domesday survey 
(A.D.1086) in this district, were the King himself, William de Percy, 
Robert Earl of Moreton, and Hugh the son of Baldric. The Percy 
family long retained the lands of their ancestor ; those of the other 

— "Thwaite," an isolated piece ofland — " with," a wood or forest — " toft," " beck," 
" dale," " force," " fell," " haugh," " holm," " garth," " rigg," &c, all indications 
of Danish or Norwegian occupation. 

For further information on this very interesting subject, see Worsaae's Danes and 
Norwegians in England, Sec. vii., p. 68. 

•A.D. 1069. 
+ Will, of Malmsbury, R. Hoveden, Sim. of Durham. 



10 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

proprietors were soon conferred on Robert de Mowbray, earl of 
Northumberland. The principal stations of the Norman nobility 
in this district, were Thirsk Castle, a stronghold of the Mowbrays, 
and the Manor House at Topcliffe, one of the earliest English 
homes of the Percies. These two potent families by the greatness 
of their power and the renown of their actions, spread over this 
Vale the charm of historical associations, of whom we purpose to 
speak more fully, when treating of Thirsk and Topcliffe. In a 
subsequent age, the Scropes, a family equally talented, and illus- 
trious, by their achievements in the field and cabinet, made Upsall 
the place of their residence, a spot to be looked upon with rever- 
ence by the student of history. Few there are in deed, who, treading 
on the site of a ruined castle, do not wish to know something of 
its history, and to whom an account of the actions or misfortunes 
of its owners would not be welcome ; for " a people which takes 
no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors, will never 
achieve any thing worthy to be remembered with pride by re- 
mote descendants".* 

Would we contemplate England shortly after the conquest, we 
must look on two widely different pictures. On one side we see 
the Normans wealthy and free from public burdens ; on the other 
the Saxons enslaved and oppressed with taxes ; the former full of 
spacious mansions, of walled and moated cities ; the latter scattered 
over with thatched cabins, and ancient walls in a state of dilapi- 
dation ; this, peopled with the happy and the idle, with soldiers 
and courtiers, with knights and nobles ; that in misery and con- 
demned to labour with peasants and artisans ; on the one we 
behold luxury and insolence; on the other poverty and envy. 
Lastly, to complete the picture, these two lands are in some sort 
interwoven with each other ; they meet at every point ; and yet 
they are more distant, more completely separated, than if the 
ocean rolled between them. Each has its language, and speaks a 
language foreign to the other. French is the court language, and 
is spoken in all the palaces, castles, mansions, abbeys, and monas- 

* Alacaulay. 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 11 

teries, and in all places where wealth and power offer their 
attractions ; while the ancient language of the country is heard 
only at the fire sides of the poor and the serfs. For a long time 
the two idioms were propagated without any intermixture ; the 
one being the mark of the noble, the other of ignoble birth.* 

The isolation of the two races continued long, and their hatred 
was bitter and often deadly ; at length they amalgamated, and the 
English people, commerce, and empire, are the result of their union. 

During the reign of Edward II., the Yale of Mowbray suffered 
severely from the incursions of the Scots, who in the years 1318, 
1320, and 1322, penetrated thus far into England, plundering, 
burning, and destroying all before them. " The desolation of the 
country was so complete that the king issued a mandate to his 
collectors of taxes in the North-Riding, to exempt from payment 
thereof the following places in this tract of country, on account of 
their being burnt by the Scots — Topcliffe, Cristwayt, Astenby, 
(Asenby), Difford, (Dishforth), Renington, (Rainton), Newby, 
North-Kilvyngton, Thornton-in-Thestrede, Northorington, Bret- 
teby, Sigston, Thymelby, Hotton-Parva, Smytheton, Hornby, 
Grisby, Osmunderlare, (Osmotherly), Northalverton, Broumpton, 
Romundeby, Thornton-in-Vinas,Nonyngton, Bergby, and Sour by." 
— Rymer's Fcedera. 

In more modern times we have not the actions of warriors to 
record 

" Giants of mighty bone, and bold emprise," 
but the more peaceful and permanent triumphs of art and science. 
The plain has been enclosed and cultivated like a garden, the 
marshes have been drained, the forests felled, and made productive ; 
the ancient trackways, narrow, dirty, and inconvenient, have been 
superseded by easy and commodious roads : and the latest triumph 
of locomotion, the iron pathways of Stephenson, intersect the dis- 
trict from end to end ; realizing in the rapid rush of the heavy 
loaded train, and the mighty force by which it is propelled, the 
wildest dreams of eastern imagination; at the same time "the 

• Thierry's Norman Conquest. 



12 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

thought speeding telegraph," sends intelligence through the land 
with the rapidity of lightning. 

No greater contrast can be imagined, than the state of this Vale 
at the present time, and what it was in the dark and gloomy age 
of the Norman conquest, or the still more primitive age when the 
Druid performed his savage rites to a crowd of blind admirers in 
the oak groves of the valley, or in the mystic circle on the 
Hambleton Hills. 

" Hail mighty science, Nature's conquering lord ! 

Thou star-crowned, steam-winged, fiery-footed power! 

Hail gentle Arts, whose hues and forms afford 

Refined enchantments for the tranquil hour ! 

Hail tolerant teachers of the world, whose dower 

Of spirit-wealth outweighs the monarch's might! 

Blest be your holy mission ! may it shower 

Blessings like rain, and bring, by human right, 
To all our hearts and hearths, love, liberty, and light." 

J. C. Tbince. 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 13 



AN OUTLINE OF THE PHYSICAL HISTORY 
OF THE DISTRICT. 



The District physically defined. — Its Geology. — The Pal^eo- 
saurian period.— The Teleosaurian period. — The Megalo- 

saurian period. the glacial period. its mineralogy. — 

Its Palaeontology. — Its Physical Geography and Botany. 
— The Hills. — The Streams. — Its Zoology. — Its Climatology. 



Physically viewed, the district respecting which the present 
volume treats, may be called, without much departure from accu- 
racy, the basin of Codbec, for indeed with the trifling exception of 
the springs which feed the head of the Wiske at Mount Grace 
and a branch of the Rye at Arden, all its superfluous waters even- 
tually find their way into the channel of the single stream. In the 
present chapter it is proposed avoiding scientific technicalities as 
completely as possible, briefly to pass under review the most pro- 
minent details of its physical history and natural aspect, by way 
of a suitable introduction to its history, considered in the sense in 
which the term is usually employed : in a word, to introduce our 
readers to the tract of country itself, before proceeding to deal 
with the doings of its inhabitants. 

Geology. Armed with hammer and pickaxe, the geologist 
explores the crust of the earth, and by studying what he sees, by 
observing the constituent mineralogical elements of strata, the 
manner of their deposition, the order of superposition in which 
they are placed, and the character of the fossil organisms which 
they enclose, reads the past history of the globe which we inhabit. 



14 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Votary of a science where the goal of yesterday is the starting 
point of tomorrow, looking back through the long vista of vast 
revolutions till in the far distance sight fades into dimness, he 
learns that the total extent of the term of human history is com- 
prised within a minute portion of the last of manifold epochs 
which the earth has gone through, that as cycle succeeded 
cycle, rocks of eruption were protruded, mountain-chains uplifted, 
sedimentary formations deposited and consolidated, the relative 
proportions and positions of sea and land changed repeatedly, 
that creation after creation of organised beings played its part 
upon the stage of existence and then vanished into oblivion, 
Zoophytes, Mollusca, Crustacea, Saurians, Fishes, Mammalia, till 
at length, when in the fulness of time his place of habitation was 
prepared, the Almighty fiat went forth and "Man became a 
living soul." 

THE GEOLOGY OF THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 




PERIODS OF TIME. 


KINDS OF ROCK LOCALITIES 
DEPOSITED. LOCALITIES. 




Mesozoic series. 

1. Palseosaurian period, or 
era of the .New Red 
Sandstone. 

2. Teleosaurian period, or 
era of the Lias. 

3. Megalosaurian period, 
or era of the Oolite, 

* Lower Oolite. 

* * Upper Oolite. 

Cainozoic series. 

4. Glacial period, or era 
of the boulder clay. 


Arenaceous deposits co- 
loured with a rich red 
tint, by peroxide of iron. 

Two thick beds of ar- 
gillaceous shales, with 
an intermediate layer of 
marlstone and arenaceous 
ironstones. 

Sandstones, shales&im- 
pure oolitic limestones va- 
riously alternated, some- 
times furnishing a consi- 
derable proportion of iron, 
and enclosing thin beds 
and partings of coal. 

Gray-argillaceous rocks, 
calcareous gritstones and 
oolitic limestones of a cor- 
alline character. 

Blue clay intermixed 
with gravel and pebbles 
of various kinds. 


Thirsk, Thornton-le- 
street, Carlton-miniott, 
but everywhere overlaid 
with diluvium. 

Topcliffe, Dalton, Felis- 
kirk, Sutton, Borrowby, 
Kirby-Knowle, Sigston, 
Silton, Osmotherly. 

Cleves, Gormire, Thirl- 
by, Mount-Saint-John, 
Westow, Eaventhorp, 
Boltby, Kepwick, Os- 
raotherly-bank, Arden. 

Hood-hill, Eolston- 
scarr, Whitstoncliff, Bolt- 
by-scarr, Kepwick-bank, 
Arden-bank. 

Thinly spread over the 
whole district, except the 
hill-tops. 




The strata which may be found near the surface within th 


& 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 15 

limits of our district are all sedimentary, that is to say, they have 
been deposited from water by chemical precipitation or ordinary 
mechanical action, not ejected from the depths of the earth in the 
manner that lava is thrown oat of a volcano. With reference to 
age, the Mesozoic (secondary) and Cainozoic (tertiary) series of 
geologists are both represented within our limits, but none of the 
oldest rocks of all (which comprise what is called the Palaeozoic 
or primary series) occur. Leaving out of consideration the ter- 
tiary or diluvial deposits, it may be assumed here as an invariable 
rule, that as we pass from west to east we pass from earlier to later 
strata. This will be shewn more clearly by the preceding table, 
which exhibits the geology of the vale at a concise view. The 
names in the first column imply certain periods or epochs of time, 
the first mentioned of which are the most remote, the last men- 
tioned more recent ; the second column states the kinds of rock 
which were deposited here during those periods or epochs of time ; 
and the third column gives the localities where these rocks occur 
at or near the surface. 

We will next proceed to pass each of these periods under re- 
view and treat in fuller detail the bearings of its history upon our 
field of study. The time during which the later rocks of the 
Palaeozoic series were deposited, was a period of violent and 
extensive convulsions. The causes which permitted that immense 
accumulation of arenaceous and argillaceous sediment, chemical de- 
posits and vegetable reliquiae, not less than four thousand feet in 
thickness, which represents the carboniferous system in Yorkshire, 
and fills up nearly the whole of the western half of the county, were 
suddenly brought to a close by an eruption of forces which have left 
their traces in the shape of faults and dislocations in almost all the 
coal fields of both the old world and the new. The whole escarpment 
of the Penine chain from the mountains round the sources of the 
Tyne, southward to Ingleborough, is caused by an immense disrup- 
tion, which reaches the extent of at least three thousand feet, for a 
length of fifty-five miles. "Perhaps," says Professor Phillips, "the 
whole world does not offer a spectacle more impressive to the eye of a 
geologist, than that which is afforded by the contrast between the 



16 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

mighty wall of mountain limestone rock, soaring to a height of 
about 2500 feet above the vale of Eden, and the level beds of red 
sand-stone deposited in later times at the foot of the ancient 
escarpment upon the relatively depressed portion of the same 
mountain limestone rocks." With this communicate two cross lines 
of dislocation, one of which, under the name of the main or ninety- 
fathom dike, passes eastward from Brampton to the coast near 
Tynemouth, depressing the strata to the north, whilst the other 
ranges east-south-east from Kirby-Lonsdale to Grassington in 
Wharfdale, and throws down to the south. We have now the first 
distinct appearance of a portion of the land of Yorkshire above the 
waters of the primeval ocean. Round the base of the hills thus up- 
lifted were deposited the strata of magnesian limestone, which now 
form a narrow band from the Tees to the Don, to the east of the 
carboniferous rocks, the nearest point of which to our district may 
be seen about Tanfield and Monkton-moor. The stormhad rocked 
itself to rest, and a long period of almost uninterrupted calm next 
ensues. With the magnesian limestone, the primary series of 
rocks is closed and many of the older forms of life vanish away, 
no more to reappear. 

Palceosaurian period. Round the previously elevated lines of 
Palaeozoic rock were slowy accumulated thick bands of arenaceous 
constitution, the particles of which are coated as with a red varnish 
by peroxide of iron. They are locally associated with beds of 
salt and gypsum, but for the rest, are remarkably uniform in 
character, whatever may be the nature of the anciently formed 
deposits they touch upon. These are the rocks of the Palseosaurian 
period, and compose what is usually called the new red sandstone 
formation. They are called " new " to distinguish them from the 
similar strata which succeed the Silurian and precede the Carbo- 
niferous epoch, from which they can scarcely be distinguished by 
any mineralogical character. In Yorkshire the new red sandstone 
occupies perhaps one-sixth part of the county. It extends from the 
Tees to the Humber, and ranges longitudinally, so as to form the 
broad central valley, usually denominated the Vale of York, which 
separates the eastern from the western ranges of hills. Our stream 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 17 

touches it below Knayton, and for the remainder of its course may 
be regarded as furnishing its eastern boundary, but everywhere it 
is more or less thickly overspread with diluvial clay and gravel. 
In this county, it is entirely destitute of fossils, but other parts of 
Britain yield a few, and its continental analogues, the Keuper, 
Muschelkalk, and Bunter sandstein, a more considerable number. 
Teleosaurian period. The most prominent characteristic of the 
liassic era was the accumulation of an immense thickness of argil- 
laceous sediment. Covered generally with an oolitic cap, these 
deposits, at some points attaining a thickness of six hundred feet, 
with a single exception west of Whitby, where they are depressed 
below the surface by a fault, may be examined with unusual 
facility in the magnificent line of cliffs that guards our Yorkshire 
coast by way of Bay town, Hawsker, Kettleness, Staithes, Saltburn, 
and in the well known rocks which are exposed at low water in 
front of Redear. Extending inland they attain an elevation of 
one thousand feet in Pcoseberry Topping, and of two hundred feet 
more in the hills on the south side of the vale of Leven, and form 
the general floor of the wide range of oolitic moorlands, spreading 
out beyond their base for a considerable surface in a low undulated 
tract to Stokesley, Thirsk, and Easing wold. Along most of the 
branches of the Esk, and in the depths of the western valleys of 
the Rye, (Snailesworth, Bilsdale, Bransdale, &c.,) they are ex- 
posed by denudation beneath superincumbent masses of oolite. 
From their most elevated point in Cleveland they dip towards the 
south at an average rate of about fifty feet per mile, and eastward 
at the rate of forty three feet. As it is developed in Yorkshire 
three principal divisions of the lias may be traced ; 1st, The loicer 
Lias Shale, a uniform mass of dark rather firm rock, varying from 
three hundred to five hundred feet in thickness, enclosing nodules 
of ferruginous and calcareous constitution, mixed in its lower part 
with rough sandy deposits. This bed is never worked for alum, 
and yields comparatively few fossils. 2nd, The Ironstone and 
Marlstone series, one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet thick, 
consisting of highly arenaceous shales and laminated sandy lime- 
stones, succeeded above by several bands of nodular and stratified 



18 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

ironstone of great commercial value. This is the bed which has 
been so much worked for iron lately in Cleveland and Eskdale. 
It yields abundance of fossil shells and beautiful specimens of 
corals, annulosa, and fishes. 3rd, The upper Lias Shale, fifty to 
two hundred feet in thickness, interspersed with layers of argillo- 
calcareous nodules, passing by gradual stages of transition to the 
lowest oolites above, and the last-mentioned series below. This is 
the bed which yields alum, and here may be found multitudes of 
Ammonites and conchiferous shells and occasionally jet, and the 
remains of gigantic Saurian Reptiles. We may suppose the rocks 
of the Teleosaurian period to have been gradually deposited in the 
bed of an ocean removed from the influence of violent currents, so 
as to receive only those finer portions of matter which could be 
carried for a considerable distance without sinking to the bottom ; 
and that a gradual depression of the surface was all the while 
going forward, perhaps temporarily interrupted during the epoch 
of the formation of the central band, which as before stated, con- 
tains a large proportion of heavier sandy material. In our district 
the Lias is much overspread with diluvium and consequently 
cannot be examined so well as along the coast line and the edges 
of the Cleveland hills. Of its upper members fine sections may be 
seen by the stream side about Osmotherley, and in the cutting of 
the road between Mount St. John and Westow, an excellent illus- 
tration of its eastward dip is exposed. The ironstone band enters the 
vale at Ingleby-cross, runs below Mount Grace and Osmotherley, 
curves past the end of Black Hambleton to Silton, and finally 
reaches Feliskirk and Sutton-under-Whitstonecliif. 

Megalosaurian period. In a commercial point of view the rocks 
of the Lower Oolite are infinitely the most important which the 
Vale of Mowbray furnishes ; and, when the time arrives for the 
development of their metallic treasures, are destined to exert an 
influence upon the history of the district which at present we are 
scarcely prepared to appreciate. In 1854, they were surveyed by 
Professor Phillips, and the following summary of their character 
is quoted from his " Manual of Geology." 

1. Calcareous shelly, partly oolitic ironstone, seven to twelve 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 19 

feet thick, twenty thousand tons per acre of good quality, over it 
in some places shale with a band of ironstone nodules. 

2. Lower Sandstone. Sandstones, shales, ironstones (one three 
feet bed and several bands of nodules, all good in quality and 
mostly workable) ; bands of cement nodules, one bed of coal occa- 
sionally worked, three hundred and twenty feet. 

3. Bath Oolite. Calcareous oolitic and shaly beds, with layers 
of shale and irony bands of different degrees of richness, not here 
workable, about thirty feet in all. 

4. Upper Sandstone. Sandstones, shales, ironstones, and car- 
bonaceous bands, one layer of ironstone nodules very rich, no coal 
bed visible. Plants in some of the layers. Fine white arena- 
ceous freestone. Two hundred and fifty feet. 

5. Combrash. Impure shelly limestone, barely traceable. 

Taken in connection with the lias, the lower oolite in north- 
east Yorkshire, occupies a total area of five hundred and fifty 
square miles. It fills up the higher levels of all the northern 
portion of the moorland district, dipping at length beneath the range 
of tabular hills of later formation which range eastward and west- 
ward from Hambleton-end to Scarborough. Of the steep western 
embankment it forms the greater proportion, and the edges of the 
upper part of all the dales which open out towards the south, and 
afterwards stretches towards the Derwent through the Howardian 
district, in a range of slightly elevated country, by way of Years- 
ley and Terrington. North of the Esk it attains an elevation of 
1022 feet above the sea level in Roseberry Topping, 966 feet in 
Danby Beacon, and 784 feet in Eston Nab. In the more connected 
range south of the Esk, Burton Head reaches 1485 feet, and three 
other summits above the Leven exceed 1400 feet. In the How- 
ardian district 520 feet is the highest point. 

The strata of the Upper Oolite form the range of tabular hills 
to which allusion is made in the preceding paragraph. They are 
usually furnished with a steep escarpment towards the north, 
form cliffs in the lower parts of almost all the southern dales, and 
rise gradually towards the west from an elevation of 300 to 1300 
feet. The members of this formation, which shew themselves in 



20 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

our special district, may be briefly characterised as follows : — 

1. Kelloways or Hachness rock, calcareous sandstone, the upper 
beds very thick, indurated with admixture of iron, yielding a 
plentiful supply of fossil shells. Thickness about 50 feet. 

2. Oxford Clay, a thick blue arenaceous clay, changing gradu- 
ally in composition to the beds above and below, with fossils as in 
the preceding. Thickness about 50 feet in our district. 

3. Lower Calcareous Grit, gray marly sandstones, becoming 
yellower and more consolidated upwards till they assume a cherty 
character, topped with a bed of yellow sand, enclosing highly in- 
durated calcareous balls, and above strong calcareous sandstone of 
a reddish tint, with some fossils. 100 feet. 

4. Coralline Oolite, oolitic limestone, with Corals, Sponges, and 
Shells. Extreme thickness 60 feet, but not reaching that in our 
district. 

These rocks form the cliffs of Boltby Scarr, Whitstonecliff, 
Rolston Scarr, and the cap of Hood Hill ; and may be ex- 
amined favourably at any of these stations. Above Kilburn 
they may be seen dipping eastward at a steep angle of inclination. 

During the lapse of the Megalosaurian period, if we may judge 
from the manner in which calcareous, arenaceous, and argillaceous 
rocks alternate with one another, the sea bed must have been sub- 
jected to many elevations and depressions, but it would seem that 
these have been of a gradual rather than of a convulsive character. 
The beds of coal and thin carbonaceous partings interspersed 
amongst some of the lower sandstones, imply the vicinity of land ; 
and following on the track of Sir Roderick Murchison, some of 
members of the Thirsk Natural History Society have verified 
the existence of gigantic fossil Equiseta, in an upright position in 
the freestone quarries above Osmotherley. Amongst the deposits 
of Coralline Oolite, the bones of certain land lizards occur, but we 
have no grounds for surmising that these strata were as yet uplifted 
to any considerable height above the waters of the Mesozoic sea. 

After the close of the Oolitic era we find that a remarkable 
though perhaps only local elevation took place. At Bishop's 
Wilton, in the East-Riding, the Lias and Oolite are bent into a 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 21 

broad anti-clinal and dip from its axis, towards both north and 
south. Before the deposition of the superincumbent hills of Chalk, 
the surface must have been subjected to extensive denudation, for 
in some places both Teleosaurian and Megalosaurian deposits are 
entirely swept away, and the Chalk occurs in juxta-position with 
New Red Sandstone. Of the Mososaurian period or era of the 
Chalk, no monuments exist within the limits of our field of study, 
and with this closes the whole series of Secondary Strata. 

During the earlier ages of the Tertiary epoch, a considerable 
elevation of the surface must have taken place, probably of a gra- 
dual character. We now obtain a tolerably close approximation 
to the existing condition of things. On the east were uplifted the 
oolitic moorlands, and in an opposite direction rose the carbon- 
iferous hills, even as they now rise on the verge of our western 
horizon. Down the gills and dales flowed a multitude of 
streams to augment the waters of the sea which covered what is 
now the Vale of York. Over the lands thus separated, warmed 
with the fervour of a tropical sun, roamed species of Elephant, 
Hippopotamus, and Rhinoceros ; in the caverns of the limestone 
lurked Hyaenas, Tigers, Bears, and Wolves — in fact a large num- 
ber of species identical with, or analogous to, those which now 
inhabit the earth, at this time first made their appearance. 

Glacial period. But again subsidence ensued, and hill tops be- 
came islands. Over the summit of the Pennine ridge, down the dale 
of the Greta, into the broad central valley, burst with irresistible 
force a tumultuous flood, crested with icebergs laden with the 
Granite of Shap-fell, the Hypersthene and Syenite of Carrock, the 
Slate of Grasmere and Ulswater. These rocks, especially the 
peculiar granitic boulders, may be traced all the way through the 
vales of York and Cleveland, to the foot of the Oolitic hills and 
the Wolds ; and beyond them often reach even as far as the cliffs 
which margin the coast of Holderness. An idea of the waste to 
which the older formations were subjected by these violent waters 
may be gathered by observing the vast masses of diluvium that 
lie uppiled in the vicinity of Redcar, Whitby, and Scarborough. 
Everywhere, in the shape of confused heaps of gravel, sand, and 



22 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

clay, the deposits of this era overspread the lower levels. The 
animals and plants of the preglacial epoch, which were not 
destroyed, took refuge amongst the hills, and fresh ones were 
created to supply the place of those which this deluge annihilated. 
Since its subsidence, the marks of no considerable change in the 
relative positions of sea and land, can be traced. 

Mineralogy. The three species of earths which principally 
enter into the composition of rocks, are, as everyone is familiar 
who has paid attention to the subject, Silica, Lime, and Alumina. 
Within the limits of our field of study, as may be gathered from 
the preceding sketch, almost all the ordinary stratified combina- 
tions of sandstones, limestones, and clays, may be found ; but we 
will content ourselves with enumerating here the mineral products 
of the district which possess a more or less positive value in a 
commercial point of view. These are 

1. The Ironstones of the Lias, and especially of the Lower 
Oolite, the latter stretching along the hill side all the way from 
Rolstone Scarr to Osmotherley and Arncliffe* (vide infra). 

* " The present make of iron in Britain amounts to about three millions of tons. 
But now that peace has been established, the more advanced nations of the world 
will be devoting- their energies to the development of their material civilisation, and 
will consequently require additional supplies of iron to carry out their railway 
systems, and their gas and waterworks, their ships and house-buildings. They will 
require iron likewise for the supply of engines, machines, tools, implements, and the 
various other ways in which it is employed. This commercial movement of the 
different countries of the world cannot take place without a constantly increasing 
supply of iron. It thus becomes an absolute necessity of expanding civilisation, 
and Great Britain is virtually the only country that is in a position to supply these 
new demands. The make of iron therefore must progress in a corresponding ratio 
and assume year after year greater and greater proportions. Taking the past history 
of the iron trade as a guide, these requirements within the next coming period of 
twenty years would certainly amount to six millions of tons, or just double the 
present make, unless checked by the inability of ironmasters to supply the demand 
at moderate prices. But this will never be the case. For although the cost of 
making iron in South Staffordshire and Wales is scarcely covered at present by its 
relatively high price in the market, there are other localities in England so wonder- 
fully favoured by nature that iron can be made there with a profit of from 40s. to 50s. 
per ton. This is an admitted fact with reference to North Yorkshire, where the plant 
and capital of the more enterprising ironmasters are in process of being gradually 
transferred, and there is no doubt whatever that in a few years this district will 
surpass all others in the importance of its make of iron, owing to the cheap and 
illimitable supply of excellent ores furnished by the Cleveland seam of lias and those 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 23 

2. Cement Stone, associated with the above in the lowest oolitic 
sandstone. 

3. Building Stone, procurable from almost any bed of the Me- 
galosaurian period, especially the sandstones of the lower oolite. 

4. Lime from the Bath Oolite, as worked at Thirlby and Cleves, 
and from the Coralline Oolite and Calcareous Grit, as at Kepwick 
Bank. 

5. Coal of the lowest oolitic sandstone, but not to be expected 
anywhere except in very inconsiderable quantity. 

6. Alum of the upper lias Shale, worked formerly at Silton, 
much more difficult to obtain than in Cleveland, on account of this 
bed running out southward, and growing more arenaceous in 
quality. 

7. Clay of the glacial diluvium, manufactured into bricks at 
Carlton-moor and other places. 

8. Gravel of the glacial diluvium, as dug in the quarry behind 
Xorby, &c. 

Paleontology. Whilst enumerating, under the head of Ge- 
ology, the characters of each stratum, we have invariably made 
mention of the circumstance in those cases in which it has been 
ascertained to be fossiliferous ; but as we hope to number amongst 
our readers some, at least, to whom palseontology is a novel ques- 
tion, we* will devote a paragraph here to a general sketch of the 
vegetable and annimal life of the Mesozoic epoch. 

To the islands formed by the primary rocks more extended 
tracts of land were gradually united. The arborescent ferns 
which mainly supplied the coal beds of the carboniferous era, 
were replaced by new species and genera, and no longer composed 
the most considerable portion of the vegetation. In their place 



of the oolite, but above all that other still more important seam recently discovered 
in the dales of the eastern moorlands, lying on top of the alum shale, being calcareous 
In the Hambleton-hills near Thirsk, and magnetic in Kosedale. From these natural 
advantages and the vicinity of the great coal fields, the North Riding will be able to 
supply excellent iron equal to the enormous demand of the future, and at the same 
time much cheaper than any other district in England."— Extract from Mining 
Journal. 



24 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



abundance of Cycadacese and peculiar Coniferous trees formed 
dense forests on the borders of lakes, where luxuriated reed-like 
plants and sedges, and beds of monstrous Characese. Amongst 
the woods rolled the giant bodies of the Old World, gavials, 
lizards, and turtles, fluttered strange Ptero-dactyles like Brobdi- 
nagian bats; and in the more elevated grounds played colossal 
Opossums amongst fruticose Liliaceae. In the depths of the ocean 
swam shoals of fishes placoid and ganoid, on the margin of its 
shores flourished Crustacea, Annelida, Zoophytes radiate and 
bryozoid, floated sea-urchins, Ammonites, bivalve and univalve 
Mollusca, in countless myriads ; whilst amidst its broad lagoons, 
half-fish, half-lizard, disported themselves huge Icthyosauri and 
Plesiosauri, and as the Laureate sings, 

" Were lords and masters of earth. 
For them did the high sun flame and the river billowing- ran, 
And they felt themselves in their force to be Nature's crowning race." 

The following table, which is taken from Phillips' " Manual of 
Geology," shews the number of fossil species which have been 
found in different parts of Yorkshire, and the proportion the quan- 
tity each deposit contains bears to its thickness. 

THE PALEONTOLOGY OF YORKSHIRE. 



NAME OF STRATUM. 



Chalk 

Gault and Kimmeridge clay .. 
Upper calcareous grit 

Coralline oolite 

Lower calcareous grit 

Oxford clay 

Kelloways rock 

Cornbrash 

Upper carbonaceous sandstone . 

Bath oolite 

Lower carbonaceous sandstone . 

Lower oolite 

Lias 

New red sandstone 
Magnesian limestone 

Coal system 

Mountain limestone 

Silurian 



Thickness 


No. of lossil 


Proportion of 


in feet. 


species. 


species to feet. 


500 


43 


1 to 12 


150 


72 


1 .. 2 


60 


5 


1 ..12 


60 


125 


2 .. 1 


80 


48 


1 .. 2 


150 


36 


1 .. 4 


40 


60 


3 .. 2 


5 


37 


7 .. 1 


200 


30 


1 .. 6 


30 


82 


3 .. 1 


500 


21 


1 .. 24 


60 


91 


3 .. 2 


850 


115 


1 .. 7 


1000 


none 




215 


30 


1 .. 7 


3000 


100? 


1 .. 30 


2500 


400 


1 .. 6 


6000 


20 


1 . . 300 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 25 

Physical Geography and Botany. Given a correct know- 
ledge of the Geology of a district, and it is very easy to compre- 
hend its Physical Geography. It is not difficult to understand why 
such is the case when we reflect that the surface has everywhere 
been subjected to the long continued influence of watery action, 
and that its configuration is mainly due to the resisting force of 
the subjacent material. Nowhere better than in Yorkshire can 
the application of this general principle be traced. The hard 
rocks (limestones and consolidated sandstones) form the hills, and 
the softer strata (shales and less consolidated arenaceous deposits) 
the valleys and lower levels. This holds good, not only as a 
general rule, but with reference to the minutiae of every indivi- 
dual feature. On the sea coast the promontories are composed of 
hard and the bays of softer rock. The dales are contracted be- 
tween cliffs in hard and widened into expanded hollows in softer 
strata : on the hills the more consolidated deposits form projecting 
edges, and the looser formations are hollowed into concave sur- 
faces. For an illustration of this we need not travel further than 
to examine the condition of the Scar on the hill side just above us. 
The the White mare cliff is composed of calcareous gritstone, 
the upper portion of much harder composition than the lower. 
The consequence of the unequal durability of its constituent 
materials is, that the lower part wastes away beneath the abrading 
influence of the atmosphere, with considerably greater rapidity 
than the upper, and a ledge projects till it is loosened by rain 
and the frosts of winter, and then falls down and strews the steep 
embankment, with fragments of fallen boulders. Or visit one 
of the picturesque waterfalls of Upper Wensleydale, Hardraw 
force for instance. The upper part of the waterfall is guarded by 
a durable ledge of limestone : the lower part is formed of wasting 
argillaceous beds. The shale wastes : the limestone falls : and the 
place of the waterfall is gradually removed further and further 
back, till at length a tortuous avenue of lofty cliffs leads into the 
mountain for a considerable distance before we reach the actual 
cataract. This fact — that materials of unequal durability waste 



26 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

unequally — is the fundamental one which it is needful to bear in 
mind in considerations of this nature. 

Under this head we propose to trace, first the outline of the 
hills, and afterwards to follow the course of the streams, glancing 
aside for awhile as we pass from one station to another, to notice 
the characteristic features of the phanerogamic and cryptogamic 
vegetation. 

Passing along in a direct line, the table land of the moorlands 
declines gradually from north to south. Hambleton end is 1300 
feet above the level of the sea, Kepwick Bank 1246 feet, Limekiln 
House 1148 feet, Boltby Scarr 1075, Whitstonecliff 1056 feet, 
Eolston Scarr 950 feet, and turning eastward, Olstead Bank 
attains 954 feet, and Wass Bank 900. Owing to the eastward 
dip of the strata the summit of drainage is not far from the em- 
bankment that overlooks the central valley. None of the feeders 
of Codbeck penetrate the upper oolite, but each of the opposite 
branches of the Rye flows at the bottom of a dale varying in 
length from one mile to four, excavated through the calcareous 
strata with singular abruptness, the edges of which are frequently 
margined with scars and clothed with picturesque woods. Of 
these, the head of Yowlasdale opposite Boltby, is about half-a-mile 
from the western edge of the range. This valley is one of the 
best localities in North Yorkshire for those plants which require 
the dry character of habitation which limestones best afford. Here 
grows abundance of Actcea spicata, on the edge of woods blue 
with wild columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris), fringed with Campa- 
nula glomerata, Geranium sanguineum, and Spires Filipendula ; 
and concealing in their hidden recesses the lurid berries of the 
deadly nightshade (Atropa Belladonna), Interspersed amongst 
the thickets may be found Rhamnus catharticus, Rosa Sabini, 
R. tomentosa, Viola hirta, Hypericum hirsutum, and Lithospermum 
officinale, and sometimes straggling plants of Epipactis ensifolia : 
and by the stream below flourishes Parnassia palustris, Schcenus 
nigricans, and a profuse growth of bog mosses, Hypnum commu- 
tatum, H. stellatum, Bartramia font ana, and Bryum ventricosum. 
The vale of Arden to the north is broader and less sylvan in 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 



27 



character than Yowlasdale, but either of them is quite steep 
enough to yield a tough climb on a warm summer's day. 

The range of the table land from Hambleton-end to Rolston 
Scarr, intersected with walls of rudely piled rock, lichen stained 
and weather-beaten, is brought under cultivation in some places, 
but a greater part still remains in a state of nature. The drier 
parts are covered with a close thin sward of slippery bent (Juncus 
squarrosus), and wiry grass (Festuca ovina, Agrostis vulgaris, 
Nardus stricta, Aira Jlexuosa, Kceleria cristata, and Triodia de- 
cumbensj, which yields pasturage for flocks of black-faced sheep, 
and a fine coursing ground for the horses of the training estab- 
lishments. Miles upon miles, bleak and desolate, are clothed 
with undulated forests of ling (Calluna vulgaris), and heather 
(Erica Tetralix and cinerea), intermixed with bilberry bushes and 
crowberry bushes (Vaccinium Mgrtillus and Empetrum nigrum) 
sedge (Schpus ccespitosus), and cotton grass ( Eriopliorum angus- 
tifolium and vaginatum). In the damper parts and under the 
shade of these, luxuriate multitudes of mosses and lichens, a sam- 
ple of which the following list will give. 



Sphagnum cymbifolium. 

,, acutifolium. 

,, cuspidatum. 

Dicranum heteromallum. 

,, palustre. 

,, scoparium. 

Leucobryum glaucum. 
Ceratodon purpureus. 
Campylopus flexuosus. 
Racomitrium canescens. 

,, lanuginosum. 

Pogonatum urnigerum. 
Cetraria aculeata. 
,, Islandica. 
Cladonia uncialis. 
„ rangariferina. 



Polytrichum commune. 
„ juniperinum. 

,, piliferum. 

Aulacomnium palustre. 
Bryum nutans. 
Hypnum stellatum. 

,, cuspidatum. 

,, purum. 

,, Schreberi. 

„ splendens. 

,, squarrosum. 

,, fluitans. 

,, cupressiforme. 
Cladonia furcata. 

„ cornucopioides. 

,, gracilis. 

,, pyxidata. 



The direct continuity of the embankment is broken by four 
spurs of oolite, which spread out westward from the principal 



28 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

body of moorland. The first of these is a steep narrow ridge at 
the northern extremity of our district, that is separated from the 
main hill by a gill called Scarth nick, which contains at opposite 
ends the sources of both Codbeck and the Leven. Amongst the 
thick hanging woods of the western side of this ridge are the ruins 
of the priory of Mount Grace, and beneath it the springs which 
feed the head of the sluggish Wiske. Amongst the moorlands 
about a couple of miles to the east, rises the river Rye, and the 
four streams flow respectively south-west, north, due west, and 
south-east. The second spur is a broad elevated moor that stretches 
from Hambleton-end, between the valleys of Codbeck proper and 
Borrowby beck, to overhang the villages of Thimbleby, Silton, 
and Kepwick. At its eastern extremity grow Tetraplodon mni- 
oides and Orthotrichum Hutchinsice. On the west and south it 
is flanked by two peculiar rounded knolls called Silton Nab and 
Kepwick Nab, the latter of which produces an abundant supply 
of Viola lutea. Between the upper parts of Borrowby beck and 
Islebeck, over Cowsby, Kirby Knowle (so called from another of 
these peculiar Knolls in front of it), Westow, and Raventhorp, 
projects Blackmoor, a favourite muscological station. From its 
extremity, in a south-western direction, extends the gradually 
declining ridge of Mount St. John, which finally sinks into the 
valley by the liassic escarpment of Clump Bank*. Another mass 
of lower oolite, insulated from Blackmoor by a narrow hollow, 
stretches out towards Upsal, Knayton, and New Buildings. Op- 
posite the southern extremity of the main range, Hood Hill is 
covered with a cap of upper oolite. Viewed from Gormire it is 
roundish in shape and abrupt in ascent, but in a south-western 

• "A gentle hill, 

Green and of mild declivity : the last 
As 'twere the cape of a long ridge of such, 
Save that there is no sea to lave its base, 
But a most living landscape and the wave 
Of woods and corn fields and the abodes of men 
Scattered at intervals. * * * 

* * Crowned with a peculiar diadem 

Of trees in circular array, so placed 
Not by the sport of nature but of man." 

Byron. 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 29 

direction it is prolonged towards Thirkleby and Carlton Husth- 
waite, and declines gradually into the valley. According to the 
late Archdeacon Peirson the thicket which contains the source of 
Kilburn beck, produces Ranunculus Lingua. The calcareous 
rocks of the hill top are the only station in our district yet ascer- 
tained for Tortula aloides. Except where these spurs project, the 
hills sink into the valley at a single bold sweep when we reach 
the edge of the calcareous strata. The effect of this abruptness is 
to cause them, as viewed from below, to assume the appearance of 
a considerably greater elevation than in reality they attain. The 
upper oolite projects principally at three prominent points between 
Blackmoor and the hill-end, at which it forms the romantic scars 
of Boltby, Whitstonecliff, and Rolston. The plants which specially 
characterise the calcareous rocks are the following. They are 
mostly found not only upon the cliffs in situ, but also upon the 
fallen fragments. 

Helianthemum vulgare. Avena pratensis. 

Arabis nirsuta. Tortula tortuosa. 

Anthyllis Vulneraria. Encalypta streptocarpa. 
Geranium sanguineum. ,, vulgaris. 

Scabiosa columbaria. Orthotrichum anomalum. 
Hieracium murorum. ,, cupulatum. 

Carlina vulgaris. Trichostomum flexicaule. 

Gentiana Amarella. Anomodon viticulosum. 
Neckera crispa. 

Upon a clear day the view from the hill top is very extensive. 
The summit of "Whitstonecliff is perhaps the most favourable point 
that can be selected. At our feet is the formidable precipice, 
scarcely changed in character (for even the maritime lichens, 
hardened in consistency till they are almost as firm as the very 
stone they grow upon, still encrust it) since it breasted the waves 
and broke the spray of that tumultuous glacial sea. Five hundred 
feet lower lies Gormire, shrunk in its dimensions by the, distance 
from the size of a lake to that of a duck pond ; between them the 
steep hill side, with its forest of oak and hasel, birch, and ash, its 
impenetrable thickets of bramble and blackthorn, its fallen piles, 



30 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

confusedly upheaped of massive and angular rock. In front, over 
the diversified tract of lower oolite and lias, with its scattered 
hamlets and undulated woodlands, lies the central valley, broad, 
fertile, and well cultivated ; here the line of the railway marked 
by the steam of an engine ; there in the far south you may distin- 
guish the place of York by the spire of its minster ; on the 
western horizon spreads the range of carboniferous hills, the huge 
bulk of Penhill guarding Wensleydale like a barrier ; on the south 
over the moors of Colsterdale, the peak of Whernside, with perhaps 
the evening sun sinking * behind it through masses of golden 

* Composed after a journey across the Hambleton Hills. 

" Dark and more dark the shades of evening fell, 
The wished-for point was reached, but late the hour, 
And little could be gained from all that dower 
Of prospect, whereof many thousands tell: 
Yet did the glowing west in all its power 
Salute us : — there stood Indian citadel, 
Temple of Greece, and minster with its tower 
Substantially expressed. A place for bell 
Or clock to toll from. Many a tempting isle 
With groves that never were imagined, lay 
'Midst seas how steadfast ! objects for the eye 
Of silent rapture : but we felt the while 
We should forget them : they are of the sky, 
And from our earthly memory fade away." 

Wordsworth. 

Or as the less subjective muse of a local poet has treated the scene under another 
aspect. 

" Stand on the mountain's topmost brow, 
And cast a glance on all around, 
The steep hill side is clad with snow, 
A snowy shroud enwraps the ground; 
Look near or far, a changeless hue 
Of dazzling whiteness meets the view. 
The firs that crest each darksome glade, 
Are in the self-same garb arrayed ; 
Their leafless branches spreading wide, 
Sway with the wind from side to side, 
Which from the far and frozen North, 
Rushes in gusts and eddies forth, 
Whistling amongst the leafless trees, 
Moaning by every crag and scar, 
Attracting every wandering breeze 
To join the elemental war: 
The rocks in wild confusion tost, 
Slippery with ice and hoar with frost, 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 31 


edged purple stained cumuli, 


and in the far distance over the 


valleys of the Swale, the Greta, the Balder, and the Lune, we catch 


a glimpse of the summit where Micklefell reigns supreme over the 


scars and magnificent cataracts of Teesdale. 


In the clefts of the rocks, 


and amongst the shaded sylvan re- 


cesses of the hill side, occur a 


considerable number of ferns. 


Polypodium vulgare. 

„ Phegopteris. 

,, Dryopteris. 
Cystopteris fragilis. 
Aspidium aculeatum. 

,, angulare. 
Lastrea Oreopteris. 
„ Filix-mas. 


Athyrium Filix-fsemina. 

,, rhseticum. 

„ molle. 
Asplenium Trichomanes. 

,, Ruta-muraria. 

,, Adiantum-nigrum. 
Scolopendrium vulgare. 
Blechnum boreale. 


, , dilatata. 


Pteris aquilina. 


The following are the most remarkable flowering plants which 


the embankments produce : — 




Ranunculus auricomus. 


Sanicula europcea. 


Cardamine sylvatica. 
Arabis thaliana. 


Asperula odorata. 
Lactuca muralis. 


Drosera rotundifolia. 
Sagina apetala. 
,, nodosa. 


Crepis paludosa. 
Gnaphalium sylvaticum. 
Hieracium boreale. 


Cerastium arvense. 


Pyrola minor 


Malva moschata. 


Veronica montana. 


Hypericum hirsutum. 
Geranium lucidum. 
Prunus Padus. 


,, officinalis. 
Melampyrum pratense. 
Teucrium Scorodonia. 


Geum rivale. 
Rubus rhamnifolius. 


Origanum vulgare. 
Allium ursinum. 


,, Guntheri. 
,, foliosus. 


Luzula sylvatica. 
,, pilosa. 


The lakelet with its frozen dome, 
In short where'er your glances roam, 
Whether you look abroad or nigh, 
At the barren earth or the leaden sky, 
You gather from every sight or sound, 
That meets the eye or that strikes on the ear 
That winter is spreading his chains around, 
And waving aloft his sceptre drear." 



32 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Narthecium ossifragum. Luzula multiflora. 

Epilobium montanum. Melica uniflora. 

Circsea lutetiana. Festuca bromoides. 

Saxifraga granulata. Avena prsecox. 

The hollow which Gormire fills up, has been formed by a slip of 
the lower oolite, at a period very recent in a geological point of 
view. On the side nearest Whit s ton ecliff there is a peculiar 
swallow-hole, like those so common in the mountain limestone 
tract, into which in time of flood the superfluous waters pour, but 
with very trivial exception the lake is supplied by rain and 
drained by evaporation. Favoured by its comparative stillness, 
vast beds of Ranunculus aquatilis, Myriophyllum alter niflorum, 
Potamogeton heterophyllus, and prcelongus increase and multiply. 
On the edge nearest Thirlby, is the rock where Mr. Borrer first 
discovered in Britain Bryum torquescens. The north-east corner 
is choked with Equisetum limosum and Menyanthes trifoliata, and 
yields also Scirpus jluitans, Heliosciadum inundatum, Scutellaria 
galericulata, " an Epilobium supposed to be a novelty for which 
Mr. Baker has suggested the specific name ligulatum," Lysimachia 
thyrsiflora, Sphagnum contortum, Hypnum cordifolium, and abun- 
dance of Pilularia globulifera. There is another smaller lake 
immediately below a cliff of lower oolite on the edge of Blackmoor, 
formed in a similar manner within the memory of man, which 
will repay the trouble of a visit. 

With a list of the principal Mosses and Hepaticse of their em- 
bankments we will bid farewell to the hills. The best muscolo- 
gical localities they afford are, the lower part of the bank below 
Rolston Scarr (where may be found Anodus Donianus, Tortula 
tnarginata, Hypnum pumilum and H. depressum,) and the woods 
on the west side of Blackmoor, between Kirby Knowle and 
Westow (the station for Hypnum heteropterum> H. pratense and 
Mastigobryum trilobatum). 

Seligeria recurvata. Isothecium myurum. 
Dicranum pellucidum. ,, myosuroides. 

„ fuscescens. Hypnum plumosum. 

„ majus. „ populeum. 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 33 

Campylopus torfaceus. Hypnum loreum. 
Trichostomum rigidulum. ,, undulatum. 

Tortula convoluta. ,, sylvaticum. 

Schistidium apocarpum. ,, elegans. 

Orthotrichum Bruchii. ,, molluscum. 

,, crispum. Plagiochila spinalosa. 

,, leiocarpum. Lepidozia reptans. 

Pogonatum aloides. Calypogeia Trichomanis. 

,, • naoum. Frullania Tamarisci. 

Bryum pallens. Jungermannia barbata. 
,, bimum. ,, excisa. 

,, pseudo-triqetrum. ,, albicans. 

Mnium punctatum. ,, bicuspidata. 

Physcomitrium ericetorum. Scapania nemorosa. 
Bartramia fontana. ,, undulata. 

,, pomiformis. 

Fissidens incurvus. 

It is scarcely needful to explain that any tract of country con- 
sists, physically speaking, of a series of concave basins, each of 
which will invariably rise in level, gradually or suddenly as the 
case may be, from the line of its stream to the line of its summit 
of drainage. Of its general configuration and the relative position 
of the different parts and points of its surface a far better idea is 
given by a map than can possibly be conveyed by the most elabo- 
rate description. For this reason we will content ourselves with 
tracing here in a very cursory way the course of the streams which 
water the Vale of Mowbray, and will ask our readers to seek 
whatever additional information they require by consulting the 
map which has been prepared to illustrate the present volume, or 
better still, those just published by the Ordnance Survey on the 
scale of six inches to a mile, which, in point of completeness and 
accuracy, leave nothing further to be desired. The main branch 
of Codbeck rises in the gill previously mentioned, called Scarth 
nick, a long bleak treeless hollow with abrupt edges. Upon the 
walls and rocks in this glen, grow Umbilicaria polyphylla, Grim- 
mia trichophytta, and Hedwigia ciliata, and in the freestone quarry 
which produces the fossil Equiseta, Bryum cernuum and B. inter- 
medium. After following three miles due south, passing the 



34 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

village of Osmotherley and receiving various small feeders from 
the moorlands, the stream enters the upper lias shale and curves 
towards the west, between steep aluminaceous banks. After cross- 
ing the road that leads from Thirsk to Yarm and Stokesley, below 
Ellerbeck it again assumes its original direction, and maintains a 
more or less undeviating southern flow for the fifteen miles of the 
remainder of its course. Passing Kirby Sigston and Crosby, be- 
tween Brawith and Thornton-le-street it is joined by an affluent 
from Borrowby and Knayton, with two branches on the north 
respectively from Over and Nether Silton, and one on the south 
from Cowsby. Near Silton grows Iris fcetidissima, and by the 
side of this stream near its source on the edge of Hamble ton-end 
Lycopodium selaginoides and fine Bartramia calcarea, Sphagnum 
laxifolium and JBryum pseudo-triquetrum. Three miles lower 
down, near North Kilvington, Codbeck is joined by a little branch 
that rises amongst the woods of Mount St. John, and flows past 
Kilvington Hall and the hamlet of Thornborough. Amongst the 
sylvan recesses that shade the western escarpment of the lower 
oolite may be found Gagea luiea, Lathrea squamaria and Hypnum 
depressum; in the boggy ground below are the two Golden Saxifrages 
and forests of JSquisetum Telmateia. In fields by the water side 
at Thornborough and North Kilvington Narcissus incomparabilis, 
N. pseudo-narcissus, A 7 ", bijlorus, and Geranium phceum are natu- 
ralised. Between South Kilvington and Thirsk grow the following 
willows. 



Salix pentandra. 


Salix Forbyana. 


„ fragilis. 


11 


rubra. 


„ Russelliana. 


n 


viminalis. 


,, decipiens. 


11 


Smithiana 


,, alba. 


ii 


rugosa. 


„ undulata. 


ii 


ferruginea. 


,, triandra. 


ii 


cinerea. 


,, Helix. 


ii 


aquatica. 


,, rubra. 


>> 


oleifolia. 




ii 


Caprea. 



Whitelass Beck rises on the edge of the liassic escarpment near 
Grizzlefield, and joins the main stream at the bottom of the 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 35 

Holmes, and another little branch from Bagby falls into it, a short 
distance to the north of where its waters are augmented by the 
more considerable addition of Islebeck, from Boltby, Thirlby, and 
Sutton-under-Whitstonecliff. 

The gill where this last mentioned stream takes its rise amongst 
the recesses of Blackmoor is one of the finest little glens of the 
oolitic moorlands ; and, for a muscologist, is perhaps the most 
favourable station in the whole range of our district. Its banks, 
steep and treacherously boggy at first, lower down are shaded by 
trees and underwood, and interspersed with scattered rocks. At 
the bottom winds the rivulet, bounding from ledge to ledge of its 
stony channel in miniature cascades, or where the surface slopes 
more gradually, rippling noisily over the pebbles, till at length, at 
a distance of about a couple miles from its head, the glen opens 
out at Boltby into the level country. The following species are 
its most remarkable botanical productions. 

Viola palustris. Bryum Wahlenbergii. 

Vaccinium Vitis-idaea. Hookeria lucens. 

Primula farinosa. Hypnum flagellare. 

Trientalis europsea. „ crassinervium. 

Sphagnum subsecundum. ,, scorpioides. 

Weissia verticillata. ,, commutatum. 

Dicranum squarrosum. ,, condensatum. 

Racomitrium heterostichum. Sarcoscyphus Ehrharti. 

Tetraphis pellucida. Scapania compacta. 

Tetradontium Brownianum. Chiloscyphus pallescens. 

Polytrichum formosum. Ptilidium ciliare. 

Fissidens adiantoides. Trichocolea tomentella. 

This brook flows S.S.W. for about eight miles, and then turns 
suddenly towards the north-west, and joins Codbeck below the 
village of Dalton, and after a circuitous route of three miles more 
the united streams pour their waters in to the S wale. The following 
two lists contain the rarer flowering plants and mosses which the 
level country produces, the first of them the aboriginal natives, 
the second what are called by geographical botanists, colonists, 
denizens, and aliens, species introduced by the intervention of 
human agency through the medium of agricultural and horticul- 
tural operations. 



36 THE VALE 


OF MOWBRAY. 


I. Myosurus minimus. 


Serratula tinctoria. 


Ranunculus fluitans. 


Bidens tripartita. 


,, hirsutus. 


Erigeron acris. 


Nuphar lutea. 


Seneeio erucifolius. 


Cardamine amara. 


Matricaria Chamomilla. 


Turritis glabra. 


Anthemis arvensis. 


Nasturtium terrestre. 


Hyoscyamus niger. 


,, amphibium. 


Veronica polita. 


Sisymbrium Sophia. 


Rhinanthus major. 


Reseda lutea. 


Orobanche minor. 


Cerastium aquaticum. 


Calamintha Acinos. 


Rhamnus catharticus. 


Galeopsis versicolor. 


Trifolium arvense. 


Nepeta Cataria. 


Vicia sylvatica. 


Hottonia palustris. 


Rubus affinis. 


Atriplex deltoidea. 


,, thyrsoideus. 


Polygonum laxum. 


,, mucronatus. 


Daphne Laureola. 


,, Sprengelii. 


Orchis ustulata. 


,, Leightonii. 


Allium oleraceum. 


,, Radula:. 


Colchicum autumnale. 


,, rosaceus. 


Potamogeton densus. 


Epilobium roseum. 


,, pectinatus. 


Scleranthus annuus. 


Juncus diffusus. 


Ribes alpinum. 


,, obtusifiorus. 


Parnassia palustris. 


Carex intermedia. 


Pimpinella magna. 


Glyceria plicata. 


Torilis infesta. 


, , aquauca. 


Hieracium tridentatum. 




Gymnostomum tenue. 


Fissidens crassipes. 


Tortula laevipila. 


Leskea polyantha. 


,, latifolia. 


Hypnum glareosum. 


Cinclidotus fontinaloides. 


,, albicans. 


Orthotrichum tenellum. 


,, rivulare. 


„ Sprucei. 


,, Teesdalii. 


,, stramineum. 


,, fluviatile. 


Zygodon viridissimus. 


»» polygamum. 


Leptobryum pyriforme. 


Crypheea heteromalla. 


Bryum intermedium. 


Jungermannia curvifolia. 


,, inclinatam. 


Lophocolea Hookeriana. 


,, obconicum. 


Pellia calycina. 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 



37 



Mnium cuspidaturn. 
,, rostratum. 
,, affine. 

II. Delphinium Ajacis. 
Eranthis hyemalis. 
Corydalis solida. 
Thlaspi arvense. 
Armoracia rusticana. 
Camelina fsetida. 
Alyssum calycinum. 
Cheiranthus Cheiri. 
Sinapis nigra. 
Saponaria officinalis. 
Silene noctiflora. 

,, anglica. 
Tilia parvi folia. 
Medicago sativa. 
Melilotus vulgaris. 
Berberis vulgaris. 
Lonicera Xylosteum. 



Blasia pusilla. 



Galium tricorne. 
Barkhausia setosa. 
Carduus Marianus. 
Doronicum Pardalianches. 
Specularia Speculum. 
Collomia grandiflora. 
Verbascum virgatum. 
Veronica Buxbaumbii. 
Linaria Cymbalaria. 
Mentha viridis. 
Borago officinalis 
Anchusa sempervirens. 
Ornithogaluni umbellatum. 
Phalaris canariensis. 
Bromus arvensis. 
,, secalinus. 



Zoology. — With reference to the zoology of the district, it is 
not our intention here to enter into the detail of minutiae. Even 
-were we to give lists of the species which have been ascertained 
to inhabit it, as a general rule the station where an animal, of the 
higher grades of organisation at least, has been noticed, can only 
be visited with a very faint expectation that it will again present 
itself. To the ornithologist or entomologist, the exposed heathery 
downs of the upland, the woods and shaded thickets of the hill 
slopes, the meadows and cultivated fields of the level country) 
furnish a range of situation, which, gun in hand or net of green 
gauze floating banner-like in the breezes, it is surely his own fault 
if he traverse in vain. To the conchologist, to the icthyologist, 
scientific or non-scientific, the examination of the streams, the lake 
(sole claimant of that honourable title) and even of the ponds and 
ditches, amply deserves attention more complete, and investigation 
more systematically conducted, than any they have yet received. 
The following list contains the local mollusca, terrestral and 
fluviatile. 



38 


THE VALE 


OF MOWBRAY. 


Neritina fluviatilis. 


Succinea putris. 


Bithinia tentaculata. 


Bulimus obscurus. 


Valvata piscinalis. 


Zua lubrica. 


Arion ater. 


Azeca tridens. 


11 


hortensis. 


Pupa umbilicata. 


Lunax maximus. 


,, marginata. 


11 


flavus. 


Vertigo edentula. 


n 


agrestis. 


Clausilia bidens. 


ii 


brunneus. 


,, nigricans. 


ii 


arboreus. 


Carychium minimum. 


Vitrina pellucida. 


Limneus auricularius. 


Helex aspersa. 


„ pereger. 


ii 


hortensis. 


,, stagnalis. 


ii 


hybrida. 


,, palustris. 


ii 


nemoralis. 


,, truncatulus. 


>> 


arbustorum. 


„ glaber. 


ii 


lapicida. 


Ancylus fluviatilis. 


ii 


pulchella. 


Velletia lacustris. 


ii 


Cantiana. 


Physa fontinalis. 


ii 


fulva. 


Aplexus hypnorum. 


ii 


aculeata. 


Planorbis corneus. 


ii 


granulata. 


„ albus. 


ii 


hispida. 


,, marginatus. 


ii 


rufescens. 


,, spirorbis. 


ii 


virgata. 


,, contortus. 


ii 


caperata. 


„ imbricatus. 


ii 


ericetorum. 


Cyclas cornea. 


Zonites rotundatus. 


Pisidium pulchellum. 


ii 


umbilicatus. 


,, amnicum. 


>j 


alliarius. 


Anodon cygneus. 


7* 


cellarius. 


Unio pictorum. 


V 


purus. 




11 


nitidulus. 




1* 


lucidus. 




11 


crystallinus. 




Climatology. — "With reference to the climate-logical depart- 


ment of our physique, more precise information is also greatly to 


be desired. It is much to be wished that some one who is favour- 


ably situated for observation , 


would undertake to collect and 


register a series of data relative to the temperature, winds, and 


rainfall of two or three well selected stations in the district. So 



PHYSICAL HISTORY. 



39 



far as we can judge by the medium of the periodic phenomena of 
vegetation, the climate of the new red sandstone tract closely cor- 
responds with that of York. The following table, compiled after 
Phillips, shews the average temperature at York of each of the 
months of the year, the average number of days in each during 
which the thermometer sinks below freezing point in the shade, 
and the average quantity of rain that falls during each. 



THE MONTH. 


Its average 
temperature. 


The average 

number of days in 

it during which 

the mercury 

sinks below 

freezing point. 


Average rainfall 
in inches. 


1 January.. 

2 February .. 

3 March .. 

4 April 

5 May .. 

6 June 

7 July 

8 August 

9 September 

10 October 

11 November 

12 December .. 


34.8 
373 
40-7 
47-6 
54-5 
59-2 
620 
61-1 
55-7 
48-2 
409 
360 


17 

18 

12 

8 

4 

8 
16 


1-7024 
1 '53S0 
1-4872 
1-6848 
1-9820 
2-0516 
2-6436 
2-4388 
1-7684 
2-7036 
1-9920 
1-9000 


Average 


48-2 




1-9910 



The following table gives the summary of seven years observa- 
tion at York, of the relative prevalence of the different winds and 
their average temperature at 8 o'clock a.m. 



Direction of Wind 


N. 


N.E. 


S. 


S.E. 


S. 


S.W. 


W. 


X.W. 


Its number of days in seveD 
years 


341 


361 


273 


342 


376 


767 


677 


455 


Its average temperature at 
8 a.m. 


457 


46-2 


48-5 


47-7 


48-4 


50.4 


498 


45-4 



The rule given by Dr. Dalton for calculating the average annual 
temperature of elevated points, was to deduct one degree for every 
hundred yards of elevation. If we follow this estimate and place 
the isotherm of Thirsk at 48 degrees, that of Sutton, Thirlby, and 



40 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Thimbleby, will be about 47, of the bill sides 46 or 45, and of the 
bill tops from 44 to 45, but so many influences affect the tempe- 
rature that this must only be accepted as a vague approximation 
in default of positive and definite data. And between the different 
points of the district there will be a considerably greater variation 
in the monthly means than in the average of the whole year, for 
the moorlands retard the season at places in their proximity 
by giving out in spring the cold they have absorbed in winter, 
and by giving out in autumn the heat they have absorbed in 
summer. 



THTRSK. 41 



THIESK. 



Thirsk is a parliamentary borough and market town, in the 
wapontake of Birdforth, and North Riding of the county of York, 
two hundred and twenty miles north of London, one hundred and 
seventy-nine south of Edinburgh, twenty- three from York, eleven 
from Boroughbridge and Hipon, and nine from Northallerton. 

Though probably of British origin, we know nothing of this 
place before the Norman Conquest. Before that period all is con- 
jecture and uncertainty. The name, anciently written Tresche,* 



* The name is unique in Britain, and has been differently written Tresche, Tresch, 
Treske, Trescke, Thresk, Thrusk, Thryske, Thrysk, Thirske, and lastly Thirsk. 
" Tre " is a very common affix to the names of Welsh and Cornish towns. 

Of personal appellations derived from this town, we give the following- examples. 

Nigel de Mowbray granted to the Hospital of St. Leonard's, thirty-two acres of 
meadow in Cave, together with Swain, son of Dune de Tresch, with his toft and croft, 
and two oxgangs of land. 

From March, 1331, to 13th September, 1369, John de Thresk was prior of Newburgh. 

In 1442, John Thrusk or Thirsk, was lord mayor of York, and again in 1462. He 
was mayor of the staple at Calais, and treasurer there the same year ; he was a great 
merchant, and dwelt in H ungate. The same person represented York in parliament 
in 1448, and 1450. A tenement in H ungate, the which John Thirske some time 
dwelt in, and an obit founded by him for the celebration of mass in the church of 
St. John, Hungate, are mentioned in the corporation records of that city. 

From 1526 to 1537, William de Thirske was Abbot of Fountains. Of the early life 
of this ecclesiastic we know nothing. In 1523 we find him admitted B.D. of 
Oxford, as William de Thirsk. In 1526, he was raised to the dignity of abbot of 
Fountains, where he began a career of profligate libertinism and shameless dis- 
honesty. In consequence of which he was degraded from his office of abbot, and 
shortly afterwards, along with the prior of Bridlington and the abbot of Jervaux, 
took part in the insurrection called the Pilgrimage of Grace, was taken prisoner, and 
hanged at Tyburn in January, 1537. 



42 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

is probably derived from the British words " Tre," a town, and 
" Esch," water — the town by the water, which applies to its situ- 
ation on both sides of the river Codbeck.* 

When the Brigantes, most numerous and powerful of the tribes 
of Britain, held sway over the north of England, a few hunters 
and shepherds probably settled here, chased the game through the 
wooded dells of the Vale of Mowbray, drove their herds to drink 
the streams of " cold water," and cultivated small patches of 
ground in the fruitful fields of Sowerby In process of jtime the 
victorious legions of Rome broke the strength of the " blue shielded 
Brigantes," and the aboriginal races submitted to the conquerors, 
or fled to the mountain fastnesses. The masters of the world, 
however, built no town upon this spot, nor are we aware that any 
indicia have been discovered of permanent Roman occupation. 
The remains of the road from York by way of Easingwold to 
Northallerton, which either passed through, or very near Thirsk, 
is sufficient proof that this place was not unknown to that people. 
Of Saxon and Danish occupation we have most decisive proof in 
the personal appearance and language of the population. At length 
the Norman Conqueror came, and from the survey made by his 
order, we have the first written record of the existence of Thirsk. 
Under the head of " Lands of the king in Yorkshire," we find the 
following entry. 

" Manor. In Tresche, Orm had eight carucates to be taxed. Land 
to four ploughs, twenty shillings." f 

Again under the head of " Land of Hugh the son of Baldric, 
North Riding. Gerlestre Wapontake," we find 
" Manor. In Tresch, Tor had twelve carucates of land to be taxed. 
There is land to six ploughs, Hugh has there ten villanes having 
two ploughs, and eight acres of meadow. Value in king Edward's 
time four pounds, now ten shillings. 



* From "Cowde," cold, and "beck," a brook — the cold brook. There is a river 
in Normandy called Caudebec : beneath the heights of Alma runs Balbec, or the 
river of Baal, so that the term beck, designates a small river, in countries far apart. 

t Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 26. 



THIRSK. 43 

Berewicks. In Thorp and Newsham eight carucates of land to 
be taxed. There is land to four ploughs. They are now waste. 
The whole manor two miles long and one mile broad." * 

Thus it will be seen that about the year 1086, or nearly 800 
years ago, there were two manors in Thirsk, one held by the king, 
the other by one of his nobles, and that together they consisted of 
twenty carucates,f or about 2400 acres, and that the annual value 
of the whole was but thirty shillings. Neither church, castle, 
nor priest, existed here at that time, and the number of houses 
did not perhaps exceed a dozen, and the whole population was 
probably not more than sixty. Imagination may picture to itself 
a few hovels built of sticks and mud, the roofs thatched with straw 
and ling confusedly scattered on the banks of Codbeck, probably 
where Old Thirsk now stands. "What an immense difference be- 
tween the state of the country then and now ! At that time the 
greatest part of it would be a thick oaken wood, the haunt of 
wolves, wild cats, badgers, and pine martins ; the town, a mere ham- 
let of serfs and villians, herdsmen and hunters, now we see a busy, 
thriving market town, with the country around it cultivated like 
a garden. The large landed estates of the Norman barons have 
since been subdivided, and the parish of Thirsk now contains more 
land owners than all Yorkshire did at the time when Domesday 
book was compiled, for then there were but twenty-nine land 
owners in the whole county, possessing among them nearly four 
millions of acres of land. 

Soon after the general survey we find Thirsk, and a great part 
of the surrounding country, in the hands of Robert de Mowbray; 
the lands of the king, the earl of Morton, and Hugh the son of 
Baldric, all merged into one vast fief to support the dignity of this 
powerful noble. 

Roger de Mowbray, father of Robert, came over with the Con- 



* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 197. 
+ The carucate or carve of land, is an uncertain measure, differing- in different 
counties, yet generally containing* from one hundred to one hundred and twenty 
acres. Bede calls a ploughland (or carucate) familia, and says it is as much as will 
maintain a family. Equivalent to about 156J. at present. 



44 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

queror, and shared the danger and glory of the battle of Hastings. 
His name is found in the roll of the conquerors which was supended 
in Battle Abbey, and appears in every other roll which professes 
to give the names of the leaders of the invading Norman army.* 
His son Robert was a personage of great importance during the 
reign of William Rufus. The first action in which we find him 
engaged was in the year 1088, when Odo, bishop of Bayaux, entered 
into a conspiracy with divers of the Norman nobility, to exclude 
Rufus from the throne of England, and place his brother Robert 
thereon. Mov/bray, in conjunction with his uncle the bishop of 
Constance, obtained possession of the town of Bath and the castle of 
Berkeley, and fortified the town of Bristol, in order to make it 
their chief magazine. " The Red King," as the historians of the 
time denominate him, " seeing that his Norman countrymen were 
conspiring against him, called on his subjects of English race to 
arm in his defence, exciting them to this effort by a promise of 
alleviating their grievances." f He soon raised an army of 30,000 
men, and marched against his enemies so suddenly that he took 
them by surprise : Odo was obliged to shut himself up in the city 
of Winchester, which was sore pressed by the furious assaults of 
the king's army, when the Normans finding themselves unable to 
defend the town, agreed to surrender, on condition of having free 
egress with their arms and their horses. Soon afterward Odo, 
" the haughty prelate who had given a blessing to the Norman 
army at the battle of Hastings, withdrew from the kingdom of 
England never more to return." A peace between the brothers 
and their partisans was concluded in 1091 ; by one article of which 
William agreed to restore to the insurgent nobles all the estates 
which had been confiscated by their revolt. Among these Robert 
de Mowbray was restored to favour, and created earl of Northum- 
berland, a post of danger, as well as honour. 

We believe that the castle or manor house of Thirsk was built 

* In the roll hung- up in the abbey it is written Moribray. In Brompton's " Liste 
des Conquerants de Angleterre," it is Mowbray. Duchesne gives it Moribray. 
Leland, Moubray, which last orthography is adopted by Hume the historian. 

+ Thierry's Norman Conquest. 



THIRSK. 45 

by this Robert de Mowbray ; this however, is not supported by 
any direct evidence, as not a stone remains to tell what was the 
style of architecture used in the building, and we are in possession 
of no written record to prove it. 

In 1093, Malcolm king of Scotland invaded Northumberland, 
ravaging, burning, and destroying all before him. Robert de 
Mowbray undertook to arrest the progress of the invader, and 
drawing his forces together with great expedition, fell suddenly 
upon the Scots at a time when they thought themselves most 
secure, routed them almost without resistance, and Malcolm and 
his eldest son Edward, endeavouring to rally their forces, were both 
slain on the spot.* 

Robert de Mowbray having repelled this incursion of the 
Scottish king, in such an effectual manner, expected, and indeed 
deserved large honours and rewards at the hands of the king; but 
in this he was disappointed, for William was entirely destitute of 
gratitude, and even slighted the man who had done him such sig- 
nal service. The haughty spirit of Mowbray was bent on revenge, 
and nothing less would satisfy him than dethroning William, and 
placing the crown on the head of Stephen, Earl of Albemarle, 
nephew of William the Conqueror. He soon found means to 
draw into this conspiracy a great many nobles disgusted like him- 
self with the harsh usage they had met with from the Norman 
usurper. This was in the spring of 1095, the king being then at 
Windsor, sent to the Earl of Northumberland an order to attend 
him there, " but would neither give hostages nor pledge his troth 
that he should come and go in security." f On the Earl's refusal, 

* The Scottish historians say that the English on this occasion owed their victory 
to a piece of treachery, for Malcolm having laid siege to, and reduced the castle of 
Alnwick to the last extremity, the garrison agreed to surrender, only requesting that 
Malcolm would receive the keys of the fortress in person ; which were accordingly 
brought to him by a soldier on the point of a lance ; who standing within the wall, 
thrust the lance into the king's eye as he attempted to take the keys. Upon which 
his son Edward, falling too rashly upon the enemy, received a wound of which he soon 
after died. 

William of Malmsbury says, — king Malcolm was killed by Morsel of Bamborough, 
earl Robert's steward, and Malcolm's own godfather; his son Edward was killed 
with him. 

t Saxon Chron. 



46 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

William at once marched his army into the North, thinking to 
crush the strength of Mowbray before he could be joined by the 
other malcontents. The conspirators having notice of his march, 
laid an ambush for him, into which he would have fallen, had not 
"William de Tunbridge, one of the rebels, turned traitor, and given 
him warning of the danger. This stratagem failing, the king 
continued his march northward, and quickly captured the castle 
of Tynemouth, where he took the brother of Mowbray, and many 
of his adherents prisoners ; thence he proceeded to Bamborough 
castle, which was defended by the Earl himself, and laid close 
siege to it ; but the fortress being very strong, and defended by a 
garrison well supplied with arms and provisions, held out longer 
than was expected. William, however, resolved to change the 
siege into a blockade, that he might have leisure to go in quest of 
his other enemies. For this purpose he built a castle over against 
Bamborough, which he called Malvoisin (or the bad neighbour) 
which took away all possibility of relieving the Earl by throwing 
succours into his fortress. Having done this William returned 
southward in order to chastise the Welsh, who had committed 
great depredations upon the kingdom in his absence. 

Soon after the king's departure, Mowbray received information 
from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, that if he could withdraw with a few 
followers, he would be admitted into that fortress. Upon which 
he left Bamborough with only thirty soldiers as an escort ; but 
being betrayed by some of his own men, he was pursued by the 
garrison of Malvoisin, most of his party were slain, and himself 
wounded and taken prisoner. 

When William returned from his Welsh campaign he ordered the 
unfortunate Mowbray to be led before the gates of his castle of Bam- 
borough, and threatened that if the fortress was not immediately 
given up, the eyes of the Earl should be torn out. On this, the 
castle, which was defended by his wife and steward Morsel, was at 
once surrendered; Morsel was taken into favour by William, and in- 
formed him of many (both of the clergy and laity) who had aided 
the rebellion by their arms or counsel. Mowbray was carried a pri- 
soner to Windsor, where he was kept in confinement for the long 



THIRSK. 47 

space of thirty years. The companions of his revolt met with no 
better treatment than himself : Roger de Lacy was deprived of all 
his estates ; Hugh, Earl of Chester, redeemed his life for the sum 
of 3000/. The count of Eu was accused by Geoffrey Barnard of 
taking part in the conspiracy, offered to vindicate his innocence 
in single combat, and being overcome, was condemned to have his 
eyes put out. William of Ardres, accused of the same crime, was 
hanged, protesting his innocence with his last breath. The others 
were all condemned to divers punishments, not one escaping.* 

The whole of the estates of Robert de Mowbray were confiscated 
to the king's use, and remained attached to the crown until the 
beginning of the reign of Henry I., when that monarch bestowed 
them on Nigel de Albini, younger brother of William de Albini, 
Earl of Arundel, and cousin, on the mother's side, to Robert de 
Mowbray. Nigel de Albini was a famous warrior, and fought 
with distinction at the battle of Tinchebray, between Henry I. of 
England, and his eldest brother, Robert duke of Normandy, Sept. 
28, 1106; by which the conquest of Normandy was achieved by 
the English, forty years after that of England by the Normans. 
In this battle Nigel de Albini is said to have killed the horse of 
duke Robert, and taken the duke himself prisoner, and brought 
him before the king. Some relate that it was for this action that 
Henry bestowed upon him the lands of Robert earl of Northum- 
berland, as well as those of Robert baron of Frontebseuf, or Stute- 
ville, and by the king's special command he assumed the name of 
Mowbray. He was possessed of one hundred and forty knights' 
fees in England, and one hundred and forty in Normandy. His 
wife, a Norman lady named Gundrea, survived him ; and his son 
Roger being a minor, became a ward of king Stephen. 

In the year 1138, David king of Scotland, invaded the north of 
England with a numerous army, in aid of the claim of the empress 
Matilda against king Stephen. The cruelty and devastation that 
marked the progress of the invading army were so great, that for 
the first time since the conquest, Normans and English were 

* Sax. Chron., Will, of Malmsbury, Bovedon, Eapin, &c. 



48 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

unanimous in resisting such cruel enemies. Thurstan, Archbishop 
of York, who was then lieutenant-governor of the north, united 
the country against the invaders. The chief of the barons who 
joined him were William le Gros, Earl of Albemarle, Walter de 
Gant, Robert de Brus and his brother Adam ; Roger de Mowbray, 
then but a youth, sent the whole force of his wide domains into 
the field ; Walter d' Espec, a warrior of gigantic size and prowess ; 
Gilbert, and William de Lacy, William de Percy, with many 
others.* This army, aided by a considerable body of Saxon Eng- 
lishmen, advanced as far as Thirsk castle,f under the command of 
the Archbishop, when he resigned his authority to William le 
Gros, Ralph bishop of the Orkneys, and Walter d' Espec. In 
order to inspire the soldiers with more enthusiasm, and give to the 

* In an old ballad on the battle of the Standard, or Cowton Moor ; the Scottish 
king is supposed to be looking at the array of the English army, and asks the following 
questions respecting its leaders, and is answered by a traitorous Englishman. 
And who's yon chief of giant height, 

And bulk so huge to see ? 
Walter Espec is that chief's name, 

And a potent chief is he : 
His stature's large as the mountain oak, 

And eke as strong his might ; 
There's never a chief in all the north, 

Can dare with him to fight ! 
And who's yon youth, yon youth I see 

Galloping o'er the moor ? 
His troops that follow so gallantly, 

Proclaim him a youth of power ! 
Young Roger de Mowbray is that chief, 

And he's sprung of the royal line; 
His wealth and followers O king ! 

Are almost as great as thine. 
And who's yon aged chief I see, 

All clad in purple vest ? 
Oh — that's the bishop of Orkney Isles ; 

And he all the host hath blest ! 

+ John the prior, in his history of the church of Hexham, says, — " Having sought 
the favour of Gocl by a three days' fast, and by alms, and being strengthened by the 
archbishop's absolution and blessing, all animated by one purpose of mind, advanced 
to the town of Thirsk. Thence Robert de Bruce and Bernard de Baliol went to the 
king of Scotland on the Tees, promising his son Henry the Earldom of Northum- 
berland, and exhorting him to cease from this invasion. The king refused to 
acquiesce. Robert therefore absolved himself from the homage which he had done 
him for the barony which he held of him in Galloway, and Bernard from the fealty 
which he had formerly promised ; and so they returned to their comrades." 



THIRSK. 49 

contest the appearance of a holy war, they carried a consecrated 
banner along with them, formed of a long pole like the mast of a 
ship, borne erect on four wheels, on the top of which was a pix 
containing a consecrated host and a cross ; around it were hung 
the banners of the northern saints, St. Peter of York, St. John of 
Beverley, and St. Wilfrid of Ripon. From this standard the 
subsequent battle took its name. The army advanced northward, 
and met with the Scottish invaders a few miles beyond Northal- 
lerton. On the morning of the 22nd of August, 1138, the armies 
joined battle, and after a severe contest the Scots were defeated 
and ten thousand of their number slain; the rest, with king David 
and prince Henry his son, retreated with difficulty to Carlisle. 
This signal victory checked the Scottish incursions for the whole 
of the remainder of David's reign. 

Thirsk castle was at this time a place of considerable importance, 
and the frequent, if not chief place of residence of its noble owners. 
It was while residing here in 1138, during her son's minority, that 
the lady Gundrea entertained twelve fugative monks from the 
abbey of Calder ; they had gone from the abbey of Furness in 
Lancashire, about four years previously, with the intention of 
settling at Calder, and were just beginning to rear the buildings 
of their new home, when all their labours were laid waste by the 
fury of the invading Scots. The poor monks fled to the parent 
abbey of Furness, but were denied admittance. They then deter- 
mined to seek advice and assistance from Thurstan, archbishop of 
York. While journeying with this intent, with nothing but their 
clothing, and a few books in a wain drawn by oxen, they arrived 
near the castle of Thirsk, where they were met by the seneschal 
of the lady Gundrea, who admiring their deportment, and com- 
misserating their wretched state, inquired of Gerald, the abbot, 
the cause of their misfortunes ; on hearing which, he entreated 
them to dine that day at the table of his mistress. The abbot and 
his monks readily acceded to the request, and the miserable pro- 
cession moved towards the castle ; the lady sitting in an upper 
apartment, saw through a window the wretched condition of these 
holy men, and burst into tears. She was however so much edified 



50 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

by their demeanour and simplicity, that she kept them with her, 
and caused all their wants to be bountifully supplied ; she forbade 
their departure, and undertook to find them both a place of abode, 
and the means of subsistence. As it was not convenient for them 
to travel with her from manor to manor,* she sent them to her 
uncle, Robert de Alneto, who had been a monk at Whitby, and 
was then living as a hermit at Hode, (now Hood Grange, near 
Sutton-under- Whits tonecliff,) where she caused them to be well 
and honourably maintained, until her son Roger came to his lands, 
which was about two years afterwards, A.D. 1140 ; when he gave 
them large possessions, first at Old Byland, near the river Rye, 
subsequently in the valley near Coxwold, where they reared the 
magnificent fabric of Byland Abbey. 

Could we take a survey of the possessions of Roger de Mowbray, 
on his coming of age, their vast extent would surprise us, and the 
largest estates in England in the present day appear insignificant 
in comparison. The two hundred and eighty manors of Robert de 
Mowbray formed but a small part of his patrimony. In the neigh- 
bourhood of Thirsk, he was owner of the castles of Slingsby and 
Gilling, while on the western side of the vale which bears his 
name, stood the strong castle of Kirkby Malzeard ; so that his 
possessions extended from the eastern to the western Moorlands, 
from the Hambleton range to the crest of the lesser Whernside, 
above the springs of the river Nidd ; a domain sufficient to satisfy 
the most extensive wants, and gratify the greatest ambition ; and 
yet this formed but a fragment to the whole.f Extensive as were 

* It was the custom of the nobles of this period, to have the greatest part of their 
lands in their own possession, (letting but little of them to farm), and travel from 
manor to manor, with their household and retainers, to consume the produce in 
rustic hospitality on the spot. 

t " The house of Mowbray had four principal seats and manors. — First, Thirsk, 
with the smaller ones of Upsall and Kirby Knowle, together with that lovely and 
fertile plain, to this day denominated ' the Vale of Mowbray.' The second castle 
that of Kirkby Malersert, with the barony of Masham in Richmoudshire, and Kirkby 
Malersert, which stretches from the eastern confines of Masham, by Middlesmore in 
Netherdale, to Hebden in Craven. The third was the castle of Black Burton in 
Lonsdale, with the wapontake stretching from the north-west point of Craven, to 
the confines of Westmorland ; and the fourth and last, was Eppleworth castle with 
the island of Axeholme." — Wliitdkefs Richmondshire. 



THIRSK. 51 

his possessions, his liberality in disposing of them, especially to 
the church, was as great. In 1143, he founded and liberally en- 
dowed the abbey of Byland, and two years afterwards the priory 
of Newburgh, in the immediate neighbourhood of his castle at 
Thirsk. He was also a benefactor to no fewer than thirty-five 
religious houses. To Byland he gave the forest of Nidderdale, a 
district comprising twenty-seven thousand acres ; to the abbey 
of Fountains, he gave the townships of Fountains Earth, and 
Bewerley, with other large possessions in the same neighbourhood. 
To Newburgh, he gave the churches of Coxwold, Kilburn, 
Thirkleby, Silton, (chapel), Thirsk, Welburn, Whnbleton, (chapel), 
Kirkby Moorside, Kirkby-on-the-Moor, Cundall, and Hovingham ; 
a long list of ecclesiastical benefices to be given away by one man 
to one place. 

His grant to the canons of Newburgh of the church and other 
property in Thirsk is curious, as it affords us some insight into the 
state of the town at that period. In the charter of the foundation 
of the priory, after describing the gift of lands in other places he 
gives, " The Church of Tresc, with one carucate of land in that 
vill, and tofts, and crofts in the borough ; also the chapel of St. 
James, with two oxgangs of land in the village, with two tofts in 
the borough ; also one carucate of land in Tresc, which Bartholo- 
mew Gigator* held or occupied, with the tofts and crofts thereunto 
belonging. Also I grant to them and their tenants living in the 
borough, all the liberties and easements, which my burgesses have 
in the said borough, of buying and selling in the market, and out 
of the market, without paying toll or stallage; one oxgang of land 
in Tresc, heretofore the possession of William the son of Catellus, 
which he had in exchange for one oxgang of land in Colton, and 
one Toft in Tresc, near the bar towards Kilvington, between the 
house of Robert Collier and the house of Humphrey ; also another 
toft between the toft of Heiias the son of Elwin, and the toft of 
William the son of Robert ; also the island of Tresc, which was 

* This Bartholomew probably obtained his surname from his occupation as a maker 
of belts, by which shields were suspended when not in use, called Guiggia, Guige, 
or Giga. 



52 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

the property of Richard the priest ; and an oxgang of land, with 
a toft and croft which the said Richard possessed ; and that toft 
which belonged to Basilia." 

From this document we learn that there was a village of Thirsk 
as well as a borough of Thirsk, and that the chapel of St. James 
stood in the village. Also that the burgesses, or inhabitants of 
the borough, had the privilege of buying and selling in the market 
and out of it, without paying toll or stallage ; a sufficient proof 
that the town possessed a market at that time — indeed it is pro- 
bable that the market is coeval with the foundation of the castle. 
As the borough would be that part of the town which immediately 
adjoined the castle, the inference is that the village was situate 
on the other side of the brook Codbeck, which is now called Old 
Thirsk. But if it were the village then, how did it subsequently 
become the borough, and have the privilege of returning the par- 
liamentary representatives ? 

In the year 1148, the weakness of the contending parties for 
the throne of England, Stephen and the empress Matilda, pro- 
duced a tacit cession of the civil strife which had previously 
divided the kingdom ; when Roger de Mowbray, William de 
Warrene, and others of the nobility, finding no opportunity for 
the display of their military ardour at home, enlisted themselves 
in the new crusade which was then preached by St. Barnard. 
The leaders of this second crusade, were Lewis the seventh of 
France, and Conrad third, emperor of Germany. It is scarcely 
necessary to say that the expedition was completely unsuccessful. 
The warriors of the west met with only false friends in the Greeks 
of the Lower Empire, and formidable enemies in the Saracens, 
who opposed their passage to the Holy Land. The chiefs and 
nobles of the army escaped with difficulty, after encountering 
great privation and defeat, while the crowd of plebeian infantry 
was left to perish at the foot of the Pamphilian hills. The leaders 
returned home with the fame of piety and the shame of defeat. 
In this expedition Roger de Mowbray is said to have vanquished 
a stout and hardy pagan in single combat. 

After the fatigues and dangers he had endured in this fruitless 



THIRSK. 53 

expedition, he appears to have reposed awhile in peace, as we find 
him mentioned no more in history, nntil about the year 1173, 
when he joined the party of Prince Henry against his father, 
king Henry II. It is indeed surprising such a pious warrior as 
Mowbray should have taken part in so unnatural a rebellion. 
Henry allowed his son to be crowned during his own lifetime ; 
the young prince not satisfied with this nominal honour, aspired to 
the royal crown itself, and sought to dethrone his father ; the whole 
kingdom was divided into factions, and Mowbray joined the party 
of the prince. Lewis king of France, and William the lion king 
of Scotland, took part with the rebels, and the authority of Henry 
appeared in the greatest danger ; as his dominions were attacked 
on all sides, both in France and England, and he hardly knew on 
whom to depend : yet his spirit quailed not at the dangers, and his 
genius rose superior to all difficulties. 

Henry was at this time in France, and Richard de Lucy was 
guardian of the kingdom in his absence. The king of Scotland 
made a sudden irruption into Northumberland, and committed 
great devastation ; but being opposed by Lucy, retreated into his 
own kingdom and agreed to a cession of arms. The earl of 
Leicester with a large body of Flemings had invaded Suffolk, but 
was defeated near Farnham, with the loss of ten thousand of his 
men. This defeat did not dishearten the confederates, and early 
in the year 1174, Mowbray with many more of the nobility, rose 
in arms. Richard de Lucy, though bravely and gallantly sup- 
ported by Geoffrey, bishop of Lincoln, the king's natural son by 
Fair Rosamond, found it difficult to defend the king's authority 
against so many open and concealed enemies. The more to aug- 
ment the confusion, the king of Scotland again broke into the 
kingdom at the head of an army of eighty thousand men ; though 
repulsed before the castle of Prudhoe, he committed the most 
horrible ravages in the northern provinces, but being opposed by 
Sir Ralph de Glanville, the famous justiciary, Sir Barnard Baliol, 
the gallant bishop of Lincoln, and others, he retreated northward 
and fixed his camp at Alnwick, whence he sent out parties to 
ravage the country in all directions, while he lay safe, as he 



54 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

imagined, from the attack of any enemy. Glanville, informed of 
his situation, made a hasty and fatiguing march to Newcastle, 
and allowing his soldiers only a short interval for refreshment, set 
out towards Alnwick in search of the enemy. He marched that 
night more than thirty miles ; arrived in the morning, under cover 
of a mist near the Scottish camp ; and regardless of the number 
of the enemy, began the attack with his small but determined body 
of cavalry. William was lying in such supine security, that he 
took the English at first for a foraging party of his own army, 
who were returning to their camp ; but the sight of their standards 
soon convinced him of his mistake, and he rushed into action with 
no greater force than a hundred horse ; he was dismounted at the 
first charge and taken prisoner ; while his troops hearing of their 
disaster, fled on all sides with the greatest precipitation. Thus 
the lion of Scotland was caught, July 13th, 1174, and soon securely 
caged in the strong castle of Richmond. By a singular coinci- 
dence the Scottish king was captured on the very day that Henry 
was doing penance at the tomb of the murdered Thomas a Becket 
at Canterbury. This victory was decisive in favour of Henry, 
and completely broke the spirit of the English rebels. The bishop 
of Durham, who was preparing to revolt, made his submission. 
Hugh Bigod, though he had received a strong reinforcement of 
Flemings, was obliged to surrender all his castles and throw him- 
self on the king's mercy. Roger de Mowbray, seeing his castles 
of Axholme and Kirkby Malzeard besieged and taken by Geoffrey, 
bishop of Lincoln,* and that his only chance of safety was in un- 
conditional submission, hastened to Northampton where the king 
then was, and on the 31st of July surrendered to him his castles 
of Kirkby Malzeard and Thirsk, and received pardon for all his 
offences. These castles the king shortly afterwards caused to be 
destroyed. 

At this period we would gladly pause, to describe the castle of 
Thirsk before its final demolition, but unfortunately we have not 
the means of doing so ; no record of its grandeur exists, its history 

• Camden's Brit., p. 473. 



THIRSK. 55 

has perished with it ! Of the magnificence of its exterior, or the 
sumptuous splendour of its interior we know nothing. It was 
beyond doubt, a building of considerable extent, and its ample 
courts were crowded at times with the numerous retainers of its 
illustrious owners. Of what materials however it was built we 
know not, so completely has it passed away. The moat, which 
has been both wide and deep, and a green ridge within it, are all 
that remain to indicate the site where stood the home of the once 
mighty Mowbrays. 

" We turn to dust, and all our mightiest works 
Die too ; the deep foundations that we lay, 
Time ploughs them up, and not a trace remains ; 
We build with what we deem eternal rock ; 
A distant age asks where the fabric stood ; 
And in the dust, sifted and searched in vain, 
The undiscoverable secret sleeps." 

Probably to expiate the crime of joining in the unnatural rebellion 
of the son against the father, Roger de Mowbray again went to 
the Holy Land, but was as unsuccessful as in his first expedition. 
He was taken prisoner by Saladin, along with Guy Lusignan, 
king of Jerusalem, and redeemed from captivity by the Knights 
Templers. Returning home wearied of life, and disgusted with 
the world, he retired to the calm seclusion of Byland abbey, where 
he assumed the monastic habit, and ended his days in peace. 

By his wife Alice de Gant, he left two sons, Nigel and Robert. 
Nigel the eldest succeeded to his father's possessions, but does not 
appear to have taken any prominent part in public affairs, as we 
find no mention of him in history. He died about the year 1191. 

William his eldest son and successor, was a more renowned cha- 
racter than his father ; he was one of the barons who took up 
arms against king John, for the confirmation of the great charter 
of England's liberties ; was present when it was signed by the 
king at Runnimede, June 19th, 1215 ; and was one of the twenty- 
five barons appointed conservators of the same. These conser- 
vators were almost invested with the sovereignty of the kingdom, as 
no bounds was set to their authority, either in extent or duration. 
If any complaint was made of a violation of the charter, any four 



56 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

of these barons might admonish the king to redress the grievance. 
If satisfaction were not obtained, they could assemble the whole 
council of twenty-five, who in conjunction with the great council, 
were empowered to compel the king to observe the charter ; and 
in case of resistance might levy war against him, attack his castles, 
and employ every kind of violence, except against his royal person, 
and that of his queen and children ; and all men throughout the 
kingdom were bound under the penalty of confiscation to swear 
obedience to the twenty-five barons. 

Mowbray afterwards joined the party of prince Lewis of France, 
who invaded England at the request of many of the barons, — and 
was taken prisoner at the battle of Lincoln, where the French 
being left almost alone, acceded to a capitulation, by which 
their lives were granted them, on the condition of their imme- 
diately quitting the kingdom. The lands of Mowbray were 
seized by the conqueror, yet he afterwards obtained pardon, and 
had them restored. 

Although the castle of Thirsk was demolished, the place was 
neither abandoned nor forgotten by its lords ; for this William de 
Mowbray founded a chapel here, and a chantry therein, and dedi- 
cated the same to St. Nicholas. 

He died in 1222, and was buried in the priory of Newburgh. 
By his wife Agnes, daughter of the earl of Arundel, he left two 
sons, Nigel and Roger. 

Nigel the eldest, succeeded to the barony, but dying without 
issue in 1228, was succeeded by his brother 

Roger de Mowbray, who 25th Henry III., A.D. 1240, being 
of full age did homage, and had livery of his lands. He attended 
the king at Chester, Worcester, and Shrewsbury, and departed 
this life 51st Henry III., AD. 1266. 

Roger his eldest son, succeeded to his lands and dignities ; he 
was summoned to the several parliaments of 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 
of Edward I. In 1295, the king granted him free warren in his 
manors of Thirsk and Hovingham.* This baron, about the 10th 

* "Carta. 24, Edw. I., N. 11." " Rex concessit Kogero de Mowbray liberam 
warrennam in Thresk and Hovyngham, Com. Ebor." 



THIRSK. 57 

Edward L, entailed all his lands and lordships in the county of 
York, upon himself and the heirs of his body, and in failure of such 
issue, upon Henry de Lacy earl of Lincoln, and his heirs. He 
died at Ghent, 26th Edward L, 1297, and was brought home and 
buried in Fountains abbey. His wife was Rose, sister of Gilbert 
earl of Clare.* 

John his eldest son, succeeded to the honours and estates of his 
father. He fought in Scotland, and was knighted with prince 
Edward, and many others, 35th Edward I. In 6th Edward II. , he 
was governor of the city of York ; and in the 11th of the same reign 
was governor of the castles of Malton and Scarborough. He mar- 
ried the only daughter of William de Braouse, lord of Go wer, who 
made a settlement of his estate upon his son-in-law. On his decease, 
Mowbray entered immediately into possession of the estate of his 
father-in-law, without the formality of taking livery and seizin 
from the crown. Hugh Spenser the younger, then chief favourite 
of the weak king Edward II., who coveted the barony of Gower, 
persuaded Edward to put in execution the rigour of the feudal law, 
to seize Gower as escheated to the crown, and bestow it upon him. 
This transaction which was the proper subject for a law suit,f im- 
mediately excited a civil war in the kingdom. The earls of Lan- 
caster and Hereford flew to arms : Audley and Ammori joined 
them with all their forces: the two Rogers de Mortimer, and 
Roger de Clifford, with many others, disgusted from private reasons 
at the Spensers, brought a considerable accession to the party; 
and their army being now formidable, they sent a message to the 
king, requiring him immediately to dismiss or confine the younger 
Spenser ; and threatening in case of refusal to renounce their 
allegiance to him, and take vengeance on Spenser by their own 
authority. They scarcely waited for an answer ; but immediately 
fell upon the lands of the younger Spenser, which they pillaged 
and destroyed, murdered his servants, drove off his cattle, and 
burned his houses ! They then marched to London with all their 
forces, and demanded of the king the banishment of both the 

• See Appendix No. 1. 
t Hume. 



58 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Spensers; they presented to parliament (then setting) a bill of 
attainder against the favourites, which was quickly passed, and 
the Spensers were both banished the realm, without it being in 
the power of the king to save them. This took place in 1321 ; the 
king shortly afterwards, under pretence of taking vengeance on 
lord Badlesmere, who had insulted the queen, raised a large army; 
no one came to the assistance of Badlesmere, and Edward soon 
satisfied his revenge on him. He now threw off the mask, recalled 
the Spensers, and proceeded to take vengeance upon his rebellious 
barons, who on this occasion were unprepared to meet him in the 
field. Many endeavoured to appease him by submission ; their 
castles were seized, and their persons consigned to prison. Thomas 
earl of Lancaster, in order to prevent the entire ruin of his party, 
gathered together his vassals and retainers, and summoned his 
former confederates again to his standard ; among those who at- 
tended was John de Mowbray. Lancaster posted his forces at 
Burton-upon-Trent, and endeavoured to defend the passage of the 
river ; but failing in that, retreated northward, pursued by the 
king's army, until he reached Boroughbridge, where his further 
progress was stopped by another royalist army, under the com- 
mand of Sir Andrew Harcla, and the Sheriff of Yorkshire. Lan- 
caster's army was repulsed in an attempt to force the passage of 
the bridge, the earl of Hereford was killed. Lancaster fled to a 
chapel for safety, and was dragged thence a prisoner ; many of the 
leaders were taken and their army entirely dispersed ; they were 
tried by judges appointed for the purpose, condemned, and sen- 
tenced to be hanged and quartered ; and the sentence was executed 
upon them in different parts of England. John de Mowbray, 
Roger de Clifford, and Jocelin Deivill were executed at York.* 
"Never since the Norman conquest had the scaffolds been drenched 
with so much noble English blood as on this occasion."! By this 
event the honours and estates of Mowbray became forfeited into 
the king's hands. 

* Rapin. 
t There is a tradition yet current in the Vale of Mowbray, that John de Mowbray 
after the battle of Boroughbridge, attempted to escape to the Manor House of Upsall, 



THIRSK. 59 

John, his son and heir, however found favour with king Edward 
III., in consideration of the services of his ancestors, obtained 
livery of his lands,* and marched with the king into Scotland. 
In the 14th of the same king's reign, he was made governor of 
Berwick-on-Tweed, and served in the French wars with great 
honour. He died of the plague at York, about the year 1360, 
seized of the manor of Thirsk. 

John de Mowbray his son, married Elizabeth daughter of lord 
Segrave, heiress of the earl of Norfolk, by which marriage great 
inheritance of lands and increase of honour came to this family. 
He was slain near Constantinople, in his passage to the Holy Land, 
about the year 1367. 

His eldest son and heir John, succeeded to his father's honours, 
and on the coronation of Richard II., was created earl of Not- 
tingham, but dying about four years afterwards without issue, 

Thomas his brother, succeeded to the family honours and estates, 
he was also created earl of Nottingham, and the 9th Richard II., 
Earl Marshall of England,! D y reason of his descent from the earl 
of Norfolk, (John de Brotherton, second son of Edward I.) He 
had a naval command, 10th Richard II., and shared in the taking 
of Brest. He was afterwards constituted the king's lieutenant in 
Calais, and parts of Picardy, Flanders, and Artois ; and for his 
many good services done, the king granted him two hundred marks 
per annum for life, and authorized him to bear for his crest a gold 
leopard with coronet of silver ; the golden leopard with a white 
label belonging of right to the king's eldest son. 

then held by one of his retainers, but was overtaken and seized in Chop-head Loaning, 
between the town of Thirsk and Upsall ; that an ash tree there growing- was cut 
down, and part of its trunk extemporized into a headsman's block, and that the un- 
fortunate baron was beheaded by one of the enemies' soldiers in pursuit. The same 
authority goes on to say, that his armour was torn from his body, and suspended on 
the branches of a neighbouring oak ; and though both oak and armour have disap- 
peared, yet during the witching hour of midnight, the gyves may be heard creaking 
as if yet swinging on the branches, when the east wind comes soughing up the road 
from the heights of Black Hambleton. 

" Tradition ! Oh Tradition ! thou of the seraph tongue, 
The ark that links two ages, the ancient and the young." 
* See Appendix No. 2. 
t Camden's Brit., p. 191 and 194. 



60 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

In the year 1398, occurred the memorable quarrel between 
Mowbray and Henry Bolingbroke earl of Hereford. Hereford 
appeared in parliament, and accused Mowbray of having spoken 
to him in private many slanderous words of the king, and of 
having imputed to him an intention of subverting and destroying 
many of the principal nobility. Mowbray denied the charge, gave 
Hereford the lie, and offered to prove his innocence in single fight. 
The challenge was accepted ; and the time and place of combat 
appointed. The lists were pitched at Coventry, before the king ; 
and all the nobility in England bandied into parties, sided with 
one or the other of them ; but when the two champions appeared 
in the field ready for the contest, the king interposed, to prevent 
both the present effusion of blood, and the future consequences of 
the quarrel. He banished them both the kingdom, assigning one 
country as the place of Mowbray's exile, which he declared per- 
petual ; another for that of Hereford, whose term of banishment 
was limited to ten years. Mowbray departed the kingdom, and 
died of the plague at Venice, in the year 1400, leaving eighty- 
eight manors and castles to his son and heir.* 

His wife was Elizabeth, sister and one of the heirs of Thomas 
Eitz Allan, earl of Arundel. He left issue two sons, Thomas and 
John ; two daughters, Isabel, married to sir James Berkeley, and 
Margaret, married to sir Robert Howard. 

Thomas succeeded his father. In 1405 he joined in rebellion 
with Scrope, archbishop of York, and the earl of Northumber- 
land, against the authority of king Henry IV. Mowbray and 
the archbishop betook themselves to arms before Northumberland 
was ready to join them, and mustered their forces to the number 
of 11,000 men, at Skip ton in the forest of Galtrees, near York. 
They published a manifesto, in which they reproached Henry 
with the usurpation of the crown, and the murder of the late king. 
They required that the right line should be restored, and all griev- 
ances be redressed. 

Ralph Neville, earl of Westmorland, whose power lay at Sheriff 

• Dugdale's Baronage. Camden's Brit., p. 394. 



THIRSK. 61 

Hutton in the neighbourhood, together with prince John of Lan- 
caster,the king's son, came against them with an inferior force, "and 
caused their standards to be pight down, as the archbishop had 
pight his, over against them. When the earl of Westmorland 
perceived the force of adversaries, and that they lay still and 
attempted not to come forward upon him, he subtilely devised 
how to quail their purpose."* He desired a conference of the 
leaders, between the armies ; the archbishop and Mowbray con- 
sented ; Westmorland heard their grievances with great patience : 
he begged them to propose the remedies : he approved of every 
expedient which they suggested : he granted them all their de- 
mands : he also engaged that Henry should give them entire 
satisfaction : and when he saw them pleased with the facility of 
his concessions, he observed to them, that since amity was now in 
effect restored between them, it were better on both sides to dis- 
miss their forces. "Well," said the earl of Westmorland, "then 
our travail is come to the wished end : and where our people have 
been long in armour, let them depart home to their wonted trades 
and occupations : in the mean time let us drink together in sign 
of agreement, that the people on both sides may see it, and know 
that it is true that we be light at a point." They had no sooner 
shaken hands together, but that a knight was sent straightways 
from the archbishop to bring word to the people that there was a 
peace concluded, commanding each man to lay aside arms and 
return to their houses. The people beholding such tokens of 
peace, as shaking of hands and drinking together of the lords in 
loving manner, brake up their field and returned homewards : but 
in the meantime whilst the people of the archbishop's side drew 
away, the number of the contrary party increased, according to order 
given by the earl of Westmorland ; and yet the archbishop per- 
ceived not that he was deceived, till the earl of Westmorland 
arrested both him and the Earl Marshall, as well as divers others. 
Their troops being pursued, many were taken, many slain, and 
many spoiled of what they had about them, and permitted to go 
their ways."* 

* Holingshed. + Ibid. 



62 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The archbishop and the earl, thus taken in arms, were shortly 
afterwards condemned to death, without the regular formalities of 
trial, and beheaded in June, 1405. Mowbray's body was buried 
in York Minster, but his head was placed on a spike and exhibited 
on the walls of the city. 

Dying a traitor's death, the estates of Mowbray again escheated 
to the crown. Leaving no issue, 

John his brother, was his heir, and about the year 1412, upon 
proof of his age, had livery of all his lands ; and was restored to 
his father's dignities by king Henry V., whom he attended into 
France. In the Parliament held at Westminster, 3rd of Henry 
VI. , he was restored to the title and dignity of duke of Norfolk. 
In the 8th of Henry VI. he was retained by indenture to serve 
the king in his wars. He died about the year 1435 ; leaving by 
his wife Katharine, daughter of Ralph Neville earl of Westmor- 
land, a son and successor. 

John, who (17th Henry VI.) was sent ambassador to Picardy, 
to treat of peace between England and France. In 1st Edward 
IV., after returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, he was made 
Justice Itinerant of all the Forests on the south of Trent. He 
died the same year, and was buried in the Abbey Church at Thet- 
ford, leaving a son 

John, who in 29th Henry VI. was created earl of Warren and 
Surrey. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Talbot earl of 
Shrewsbury, and died 15th Edward IV., January 11th, 1475,* 
leaving a daughter and heiress, 

Ann, wedded in January, 1477, to Richard duke of York, 
second son of king Edward IV., but died without issue ; whereby 
the inheritance of this great house reverted to the families of 
Berkeley and Howard, in respect of Isabel and Margaret, the two 
daughters of Thomas Mowbray duke of Norfolk, f 

* It appears from the Paston Letters, that this duke died suddenly at his castle of 
Framlingham, then the principle seat of the family. " Like it you to weet, that, 
not in the most happy season for me, it is so fortuned that, whereas my lord of 
Norfolk, yesterday being in good health, this night died about midnight, wherefore 
it is for all that loved him to do and help now that may be to his honour and weal to 
his soul." — John Paston, Knight. — Vol. II., p. 187. 

t Dugdale's Baronage, pp.122, 131. 



THIRSK. 63 

On the partition of the estates, the lordships of Thirsk and 
Kirkby Malzeard fell to the share of the eldest daughter Isabel, 
and were inherited by her son 

William, lord Berkeley, who in the 13th year of his age was a 
retainer of Henry Beaufort, Cardinal Bishop of Winchester. In 
1438 he was knighted at Calais. In the 10th of Edward IV., 
when the duke of Clarence and earl of Warwick took up arms 
against the king, he was commanded, with Maurice Berkeley and 
others, to muster and array all men fitting to bear arms in the 
county of Gloucester. He was in such great esteem with king 
Edward IV., that in the 21st year of his reign, he advanced him 
to the honour of Viscount Berkeley, and soon after he had a grant 
of 100 marks per annum, payable out of the customs of the port of 
Bristol for life. In the 1st of Richard III., he was created earl 
of Nottingham. He afterwards fled into Brittainy to Henry earl 
of Richmond ; who, on his accession to the crown, appointed him 
Earl Marshal of England, with limitation to the heirs male of his 
body, and a fee of 201. per annum. In the 4th of Henry VII. he 
was advanced to the dignity of Marquis of Berkeley. He was a 
benefactor to the nuns of Walling- Wells in Nottinghamshire, to 
the monks of Worcester, and to the Austin friars of London. 

He was three times married, first to Elizabeth daughter of 
Reginald West, lord Warre, from whom he was divorced without 
having any issue by her. Secondly, to Jane, widow of Sir Wil- 
liam Willoughby, knight, daughter of Sir Thomas Strangways, 
knight, by whom he had issue Thomas and Katherine, who died 
young. Thirdly, to Anne, daughter of John Fiennes, lord Dacres 
of the South, who survived him. 

He died February 14th, 1491, and was buried in the church of 
the Augustine friars, London : and, leaving no issue, his brother 
Maurice was his heir; but the marquis was so enraged against 
him, on account of his having married the daughter of an alderman 
of Bristol, that he settled the ancient barony with all the estates 
thereunto belonging, upon king Henry VII., and for four genera- 
tions they were out of the family. He also gave divers lands and 
manors to William Stanlev, lord chamberlain of the kind's house- 



64 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

hold ; and to his brother Thomas Stanley, earl of Derby, he gave 
the manors of Thirsk, Dennington Thwaites, Hovingham, Kirkby 
Jialzeard, and Burton-in-Lonsdale in the county of York, with 
many others in divers counties, "to hold to y e said Earle and the 
heirs of his body." 

Thomas Stanley, afterwards earl of Derby, was first summoned 
to Parliament among the barons of this realm May 24th, 1460, 
and having married Eleanor, daughter of Richard Neville earl of 
Salisbury, sister to Richard Neville earl of Warwick, "the king 
maker " ; he was importuned by the earl to put himself in arms 
against the king, which he refused to do. 

He died in the year 1504, and by his will dated July 28th in 
the same year, he bequeathed "his body to be buried in the midst 
of the chapel in the north aisle of the church of the Priory of 
Burscough, of his ancestor's foundation, where the bodies of his 
father, mother, and other of his ancestors were buried ; having 
provided a tomb to be there placed, with the personage of him- 
self and both his wives, for a perpetual remembrance to be pray'd 
for ; and likewise appointing that the personages, which he had 
caused to be made for his father and mother, his grandfather, and 
great-grandfather, should be set in the aisles of the chancel within 
the priory, in the places provided for the same." 

This noble earl left no issue by the mother of Henry VII., but 
by his first wife Eleanor, he had six sons and four daughters. 

George, his eldest surviving son and heir, married Joan daughter 

and heiress of John, lord Strange of Knockin, and had summons 

to Parliament by the title of lord Strange, in 22nd Edward IV. 

He received the honour of knighthood with prince Edward, the 

king's eldest son, April 18th, 1474. He was an hostage in the 

hands of king Richard III. for his father's fidelity, and narrowly 

escaped with his life at the battle of Bosworth: king Richard 

ordered him to be beheaded, and with difficulty was persuaded to 

defer it till the battle was over. 

On the accession of Henry VII., he was made one of the lords 

of the Privy Council ; and (June 6th, 1487) had a principal com- 
mand at the battle of Stoke, where the pretender Lambert Simnel 



TIIIRSK. 65 

was taken prisoner, and his army defeated : soon after lie was made 
one of the Knight's companions of the most noble order of the Garter. 

In 7th of Henry VII., he was retained by indenture to serve 
the king in France with ten men-at-arms, five demi-lances, twenty- 
four archers on horseback, and two hundred and forty-seven arch- 
ers on foot : for and during the space of a year from the day of his 
first muster, and so long as it shall please the king. And to re- 
ceive for each of the said men-at-arms eighteenpence per day, and 
for every of the said demi-lances ninepence per day, and for every 
of the said archers on horseback or on foot, sixpence per day. 

He died during the life-time of his father, December oth, 1497, 
and was buried in the church of St. James, Garlich Hithe, in the 
city of London, near Eleanor his mother. 

Thomas his eldest son, had livery of those lands whereof his 
father died seized, July 9th, 1503, and the same year succeeded his 
grandfather as earl of Derby. He attended the king in his expe- 
dition into France in 1513, when the battle of Spurs was fought, 
and the towns of Terouenne and Tournay taken, and was one of the 
peers who sat on the trial of the duke of Buckingham in 1521. 
He departed this life on the 24th of May, in the year following, and 
was buried in the monastery of Sion, in the county of Middlesex. 

It appears by his will, that he had four thousand marks with 
his lady, Ann, daughter of Edward, lord Hastings ; and he be- 
queathed to his daughter Margaret, 2066/. 135. 4cZ. as a marriage 
portion. 

Edward, his son and successor, being under age, Cardinal 
"Wolsey got a grant of several manors in Lincolnshire, which came 
into the king's hands by reason of his minority ; he was but fifteen 
years of age on the death of his father. 

This earl was the most splendid and hospitable character of his 
age, and the faithful servant of two kings and two queens ; so we 
may presume his moderation was equal to his hospitality. 

He attended king Henry YIII. in his interview with the French 
king near Boulogne, in 1532. In the same year he was created 
a knight of the Bath ; and was cup bearer at the coronation of 
queen Anne Boleyne. 



66 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

In 1536, on the breaking out of the insurrection called the Pil- 
grimage of Grace, the king directed his letter to him, to raise 
what forces he could, promising to repay his charges. And as 
Holingshed observes, "by the faithful diligence of the earl of Derby, 
who with the forces of Lancashire and Cheshire was appointed to 
resist them, they were kept back and brought to quiet, notwith- 
standing there were great numbers assembled together out of the 
counties of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the north parts of 
Lancashire." 

In 1542, he marched into Scotland with the duke of Norfolk, 
with an army of twenty thousand men, but returned without ac- 
complishing anything of importance. 

On the accession of Edward VI., he was elected a knight of the 
Garter, installed May 22nd, 1547. 

In 1549, he was one of the peers party to the articles of peace, 
made by king Edward with the Scots and French; and in 1551, 
he made an exchange with the king for his house of Derby place 
in the city of London, for certain lands joining to his park of 
Knowsley in the county of Lancaster, of which county he was 
lord-lieutenant during that reign. 

"When queen Mary came to the crown, she constituted him Lord 
High Steward of England. Queen Elizabeth, on her accession 
chose him one of her Privy Council. 

He lived in such a splendid style that he has been compared to 
king Solomon. Camden in his life of queen Elizabeth, says, 
" With Edward earl of Derby's death the glory of hospitality 
seemed to fall asleep." Holingshed and Stow make honourable 
mention of him. " His fidelity unto two kings and two queens in 
dangerous times and great rebellions. His godly disposition to 
his tenants ; his liberality to strangers ; his famous housekeeping, 
and keeping eleven score in check roll, never discontinuing for the 
space of twelve years : his feeding, especially of aged persons twice 
a day, three score and odd ; besides all comers, thrice a week ap- 
pointed for his dealing days ; and every Good Friday these thirty- 
five years, one with another two thousand seven hundred with 
meat, drink, money, and moneys worth. His yearly portion for 



THTRSK. 67 

the expenses of his house 4000/. His cunning in setting hones, 
disjointed and broken ; his surgery, and desire to help the poor ; 
his delivery of the George and seal to lord Strange, with exhor- 
tation, that he might keep it as unspotted in fidelity to his prince 
as he had ; and his joy that he died in the queen's favour. His 
joyful parting this world ; his taking leave of all his servants by 
shaking of hands, and his remembrance to the last day." 

He died at Latham House, at twelve o'clock on Friday, October 
24th, and was buried with the greatest magnificence at Orrnskirk, 
on Thursday the 4th of December, 1574. 

He was thrice married and left a numerous family. 

Henry his eldest son, by Dorothy, daughter of Thomas Howard 
duke of Xorfolk, succeeded to his honours and estates ; and was 
summoned to parliament 18th of Elizabeth. He was elected a 
knight of the Garter, on the 23rd of April, 1573 ; and sent am- 
bassador into France in 1584, He was one of the peers who sat 
on the trial of the beautiful, unfortunate, and licentious Mary 
queen of Scots; and was constituted Lord High Steward of England 
on the trial of Philip earl of Arundel. He died September 25th, 
1593, and was buried in the church of Orrnskirk, leaving by his 
wife Margaret, daughter of Henry Clifford earl of Cumberland, 
two sons, Ferdinand and "William, successively earls of Derby. 
His lady survived him about three years ; who, as Camden says, 
" out of a womanish curiosity and weakness of her sex, being too 
credulous and somewhat ambitious, dealt with soothsayers : and in 
striving to get knowledge in things to come, lost the present favour 
of the queen, and soon after ended her days, Anno 1596." 

Ferdinand succeeded his father, and survived him but a short 
time ; he shone amongst the most accomplished men of his day, 
though he fell a victim to the imaginary power of witchcraft, the 
most vulgar of superstitions. On the 5th of April, 1594, he was 
seized with a mortal sickness, produced probably by poison secretly 
administered, and after enduring great torture, he died on the 12th 
of the same month. In his chamber while his complaint was at 
its height, an image of wax was found, with hair of the same 
colour as that of the earl, stuffed into the belly, no doubt to 



68 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

encourage the supposition that he was the victim of supernatural 
agency ; and his servants, his secretary, sir Edward Filton, and 
other justices of the peace, as well as his spiritual physicians, the 
bishop of Chester and the Rev. Mr. Lee, were the dupes of this 
gross imposture. As to the earl himself, he submitted to his fate 
as inevitable, and " In all the time of his sickness, he cried out 
that the docters laboured in vain, because he was certainly be- 
witched. He fell twice into a trance, not able to move hand, head, 
or foot, when he would have taken physic to do him good. In the 
end he cried out against all witches and witchcraft, reposing his 
only hope of salvation upon the merits of Christ Jesus his Saviour." 
He was buried at Ormskirk on the 6th of May following, leaving 
issue by Alice his wife, daughter of sir John Spencer of Althorpe, 
three daughters his heirs ,* Anne married to Grey Bruges lord 
Chandos ; Frances, to John Egerton earl of Bridgwater ; and 
Elizabeth, to Henry Hastings earl of Huntington. 

William his brother, succeeded to the earldom, and having a dis- 
pute with his nieces, touching the title to the Isle of Man, he was 
obliged to purchase their several claims ; which agreement, to- 
gether with the king's fresh grant, was ratified by act of parlia- 
ment, July 7th, in the seventh year of James I. He was installed 
one of the knights of the Garter, May 26th, 1601, and died Sept. 
29th, 1642. He was married June 26th, 1594, to the lady Elizabeth 
eldest daughter of Edward Vere earl of Oxford, by whom he had 
three sons and four daughters. 

James his eldest son, succeeded to the honours and estates. He 
was a person highly accomplished, learned, prudent, loyal, and 
brave, of which he gave many signal proofs during the cival wars 
of the 17th century. He was amongst the first who espoused the 
cause of king Charles, and continued faithful until his death. It 
is impossible in our narrow limits to give even an outline of his 
life — his latter years were one continued scene of warfare and 
suffering. In 1651, with only six hundred men he maintained a 
fight of two hours in Wigan lane, against colonel Lilburne with 
an army of three thousand horse and foot ; his slender force was 
nearly destroyed ; and though in the action he received seven 



THIRSK. 69 

shots on his breast plate, thirteen cuts on his beaver, five or six 
wounds on his arms and shoulders, and had two horses killed 
under him, yet he made his way to king Charles at Worcester ; 
and on the loss of the day there, he fled with him into Staffordshire, 
where leaving the king secure, he intended to return into Lanca- 
shire ; but on his way through Cheshire, he was made prisoner 
by major Edge, and brought to trial before a court martial at 
Chester, convicted of treason against the commonwealth, and con- 
demned to death ; he was accordingly beheaded at Bolton in 
Lancashire, October loth, 1651, and buried at Ormskirk. He 
married Charlotte, daughter of Claude de la Tremouille, a peer of 
France, by whom he had issue one son, Charles his successor, and 
four daughters. 

James Lord Strange was lord of the manor of Thirsk in his 
father's life time ; the courts were held in his name in the year 
1630. In consequence of the active part which the earl took in the 
cause of royalty, his possessions were declared forfeited to the 
commonwealth for treason, and in April, 1652, the manor with all 
its courts, rights, and royalties, was valued at SI. 8s. \d., and the 
annual value of all the earl's other property within the manor at 
155/. 2s. 3d* 

It does not appear that the manor and estate were ever out of 
the possession of the countess dowager of Derby, the celebrated 
defender of Lathom House against the parliamentarians ; as in 
1652, we find her giving authority to an agent to receive her rents 
in the manors of Thirsk and Kirkby Malzeard, and also granting 
leases of the same, which were deemed good in law, as will fully 
appear by the following writ from the lord protector Cromwell. 
" Oliver lord protector of the commonwealth of England, Scotland, 
and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging. To the sheriff 
of Yorkshire greeting. Know you that Edward Alchorne gent, 
in the court of common bench, before the justices of the same court 
at Westminster, hath recovered his terme of one messuage, five 
hundred acres of land, five hundred acres of meadow, and three 

* In 1655, the countess received for rents of farms in Thirsk, 4092. lis. Sd. 



70 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

hundred acres of pasture with appurts, in Thirsk, against William 
Elsley late of Ripon in the y s - county gent., w ch * Charlotte coun- 
tess dowager of Derby, the 27th day of December, 1653, demised 
unto the said Edward, to have and to hold unto him and his 
assigns, from the last day of November, then last past, unto the 
full end and term of five years, from thence next ensuing fully to 
be completed ; w ch * is not past, and whereupon the said William 
by force and arms and against the public peace, him the said 
Edward from his said farm hath ejected. And therefore we com- 
mand you that he the aforesaid Edward his possession of his term 
aforesaid of and in the said tenements with the appurts. without 
delay you cause to have. And hence this o r * precept you shall ex- 
ecute, you cause to appear to the justices of the common bench at 
West r -> in eight days after the Annunciation of the blessed Mary. 
And have you there this writ. Witness, St. John at Westm r " 
the XXIInd. day of October, in the year of our Lord 1654." The 
countess died March 21st, 1663, and was buried at Ormskirk. 
Charles her son, then earl of Derby, married Dorothea Helena, 
daughter of baron Rupa a German nobleman, and dying on the 
21st of December, 1672, leaving issue, William Richard George, 
eldest son and heir ; Robert, who died unmarried ; James, third 
son, subsequently tenth earl of Derby; Charles, and two daughters, 
Charlotte and Mary. 

On the marriage of the succeeding earl with Elizabeth Butler, 
daughter to Thomas earl of Ossory, and sister to James duke of 
Ormond, the manors of Thirsk and Kirkby Malzeard were con- 
veyed to trustees, for the following purposes : — To the said earl of 
Derby for life. To the said Elizabeth countess of Derby for life, 
in case she survived the earl, after to the first and other sons in 
tail male of the said earl of Derby, by the said countess. And in 
case the earl should happen to have no male issue by the said 
countess, but only daughters, then to raise portions for them, that 
is — if but one daughter ten thousand pounds, if two, or more 
twelve thousand. They had one son James Lord Strange, who 
died before his father, unmarried, in 1699, and two daughters, lady 
Henrietta, first married to John Annesley earl of Anglesea, and 



THIRSK. 71 

secondly to John Lord Ashburnhani, and the lady Elizabeth 
Stanley. The earl died November 4th, 1702. Elizabeth his widow, 
dowager countess of Derby, was lady of the manors of Thirsk and 
Kirkby Malzeard until her death, July 5th, 1717, when the said 
manors descended to James brother of the late earl. This earl 
served several campaigns in Flanders under king William, and 
was one of the grooms of his bed chamber, and colonel of a regi- 
ment of foot. He was lord-lieutenant of North Wales and Lanca- 
shire, and during the reign of queen Anne, was one of the privy 
council, and chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. 

The sums of money entailed by the late earl upon Thirsk and 
Kirkby Malzeard as portions for his daughters were not paid, and 
proceedings in chancery were commenced against the earl for the 
recovery of the same ; the dispute was referred to arbitration, when 
on July 26th, 1720, in consideration of six thousand pounds paid 
to the earl of Anglesea, and two thousand paid to the trustees of 
lord and lady Ashburtcn ; all interest in the towns, villages, and 
hamlets of Thirsk, Kirkby Malzeard, Thorpe-als-Gruelthorpe, 
Azerley, Laverton, Micklehay, Gauthway, Winksley, Skeldon, 
Longley, Bowes, Gauthwaite, Eamsgill, Middlemore, Dallagill, 
Swetton, Misses, Ketsmore, Carlsmore, Hartick, TVynsley, Awde- 
field, Studley, Brathway, and Bromley, all in the county of York, 
were assigned to James earl of Derby. 

On the 14th of January, 1722, an agreement was entered into 
for the sale of the manor of Thirsk, unto Ralph Bell Esq., of 
Sowerby, by John Poole of Liverpool, and Henry Gill of Burscough, 
on the part and behalf of James earl of Derby, for the sum of six 
thousand three hundred pounds. The deed conveying the same is 
dated April 27th, 1723. By this indenture the manor or lordship 
of Thirsk in the county of York, with all its rights, members, and 
appurtenances, together with the demesnes and demesne lands 
thereunto belonging ; * the toll booth and court house of Thirsk, 
with the tolls of fairs and markets, pickage, and stallage, courts, 



* The number of occupiers of houses and lands, whose names are given in the con- 
veyance is twenty-four, and of holders of burgages and cottages six. 



72 THE TALE OF MOWBRAY. 

court's leet, court's baron ; perquisites and profits of courts ; view 
of frank pledge, and all that to view of frank pledge doth belong ; 
waifes, estrays, deodands, goods of felons, felons -de-se, fugatives, 
tolls, rents, services, rents seek, rights, royalties, jurisdictions, im- 
munities, privileges, profits, commodities, advantages, emoluments, 
and appurtenances whatsoever to the said manor belonging, — 
passed from the noble house of Stanley to the family of Bell, in 
which they yet continue. 

The father of Ralph Bell, who purchased the manor of Thirsk, 
was Robert Bell, descended from an old Border family, a senior 
branch of the Bells of Wolsington, who had two sons, Ralph and 
John, and a daughter married to Peter Consitt, Esq. By his will, 
dated Sep. 22nd, 1707, he gives to his sons and other relations, 
each a broad piece of gold as a keepsake. At the time of his de- 
cease he was possessed of a capital messuage or chief mansion 
house, situate in Kirkgate in Thirsk, twenty-two messuages or 
dwelling houses, also in Thirsk, and 200 acres of land in the town 
fields. Five messuages, five cottages, and 500 acres of land in 
Dalton ; houses, buildings, and 80 acres of land in Sutton- under- 
Whitstonecliff ; 80 acres of land in Carlton Miniott ; 80 acres of 
land in South Kilvington, 90 acres in Sowerby, and 28 acres in 
Bagby. This estate was in possession of Ralph Bell before he 
purchased the manor. Robert Bell was buried Aug. 23rd, 1711, 
and Elizabeth his widow, May 20th, 1715. 

Ralph Bell, Esq. married March 3rd, 1697, at the Minster, York, 

Rachel, third daughter of by whom he had two sons and 

two daughters— Ralph, born October 1720; Peter, born Jan. 1726; 
Elizabeth, born May 1736, and Mary. Elizabeth was married to 
Peter Consitt, Esq., of Brawith, and was mother of the late War- 
cop and Peter Consitt, Esqrs. Mary married Robert Livesey, Esq., 
of Livesey Park, Lancashire.* 

* The issue of this marriage was an only daughter, who died at the age of eighteen. 
On the death of Robert Livesey, Esq., without other issue, at Sutton Hall, Livesey 
Park passed to Robert Bell, Esq., who sold it, and purchased Kildale with the pro- 
ceeds. In the Hall, Thirsk, are portraits of Robert Livesey, Esq., a gentleman with 
a dog and gun ; also of his daughter, a little girl with a dog and nosegay, and of Mrs. 
Livesey and her father R. Bell, Esq., all by Van Loe. 



THIRSK. 73 

In 1710 Ralph Bell, Esq. was elected a representative of the 
Borough of Thirsk. in Parliament; again in 1713; and a third 
time in 1715. In 1717 he was appointed by government one of 
the Customers of the port of Hull. He was buried November 
3rd, 1735. 

Ralph Bell succeeded his father as lord of the manor of Thirsk. 
He married Anne, daughter and coheiress of Edward Conyers, Esq., 
by whom he had John, his eldest son and heir. Robert, of Kildale 
(who assumed the name and arms of Livesey, in addition to those 
of Bell) born April 1st, 1768, married 1794, Jane, daughter of the 
Rev. Dr. Cleaver of Malton, and had issue, Marianne, married to 
Edmund Turton, Esq., of Upsall. The other child of Ralph Bell 
was a daughter, Marianne, who married Dec. 3rd, 1798, the Rev. 
Henry Gale, M.A. 

John Bell, Esq., was the next owner of the manor of Thirsk. 
He was born October 3rd, 1764, and married in 1800, Frances 
Brady Barnett, third daughter of the Honble. William Barnett, 
of Arcadia, Island of Jamaica, and had issue, 

Ralph, born in 1805, died in infancy. 

John, who succeeded his father. 

Frances, married Sept. 2nd, 1823, to the Rev. William Mac- 
bean, M.A., Rector of Peter Tavy, Devon., and had issue Frederick, 
of whom hereafter. Archibald, born July 10th, 1832. Alfred, 
born 1833, died October, 1847. Frances Bell, who in 1847 mar- 
ried the Rev. Mr. Smith, of Easton Maudit, Northamptonshire, 
and Elizabeth. 

The other child of John Bell was Jane, who married, firstly, 
Sept. 1833, Captain Bayntun, of the 12th Lancers; and, secondly, 
Major Sanders, of the Austrian service. 

John Bell, eldest surviving son of John Bell, Esq., was born 
August 11th, 1809. In 1841 he was elected M.P. for the Borough 
of Thirsk. He stood on liberal principles, and was a steady sup- 
porter of Lord Melbourne's administration, and a constant advo- 
cate for general education, liberty of conscience, the press, and 
general reform; although opposed to vote by ballot, and the repeal 
of the corn laws. He continued the popular representative of the 



74 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

borough until the time of his death, March, 1850. Dying without 
issue, he was succeeded in his estates by his nephew, 

Frederick, son of his sister Frances, who assumed the name of 
Bell only, in lieu of that of Macbean. He was born in Dec. 1830. 
He was a captain in the North York Rifles, but retired. He is 
lord of the Manor of Thirsk, chairman of the Board of Guardians 
of the Thirsk Poor Law Union, a Magistrate, and deputy Lieu- 
tenant of the North-Riding of the county of York. 

Arms. Per chevron, az. and sa., a chevron engrailed with plain 
cottises between three bells, argent. 

Motto. Spes mea copia fecit. 

Turning from the history of the lords of the manor to the history 
of the town itself, we do not find many great events to chronicle. 

In 1489, the greatest part of Yorkshire, and the neighbourhood 
of Thirsk in particular, was disturbed by an insurrection raised 
against the levying of a subsidy for carrying on the war in Brit- 
tainy, which was so displeasing to the people that they refused to 
pay it. The king refused to remit it ; and on the earl of North- 
umberland somewhat harshly announcing the same to the assem- 
bled people at Topcliffe, they broke into his manor house there, 
and barbarously murdered him. # Having thus begun a rebellion 
they chose sir John Egremond for their leader, with whom was 
joined John A'Chambre, a native of Thirsk; who is styled by the 
historians "a factious fellow," "a person of mean extraction, but 
possessed of some talent," "a perfect incendiary, but much beloved 
by the common people." Under these commanders the people de- 
clared their intention to march against the king, and fight for 
their liberties and properties. 

The king was not discouraged by the news of this rebellion ; he 
sent Thomas earl of Surrey against them, with only a small force, 
himself following after with a much stronger, in order to ensure 
success. But Surrey thought himself strong enough to encounter 



* There is a tradition that the earl of Northumberland was massacred under the 
elm tree on St. James' Green in Thirsk, but it does not appear to be supported by 
any evidence, although Rapin alludes to the subject. 



THIHSK. i O 

alone a raw and half-armed multitude ; he met with, and defeated 
their main body at Aekworth, near Pontefract,* taking John 
A'Chambre prisoner, with many of his followers. The rest fled 
to York, where, upon the earl's approach, they durst not stand a 
siege, but ran out of the city, some one way, some another, Egre- 
mond escaped to Flanders, where he was protected by Margaret 
duchess of Burgundy. John A'Chambre was executed in great 
state at York, for as a traitor paramount he was hanged on a gib- 
bet raised a stage higher than ordinary, in the midst of a square 
gallows, while a number of his men were hanged on the lower 
story round about him. 

The king soon after returned to London, leaving sir Richard 
Tunstall, his principal commissioner, to levy the subsidy, of which 
he did not remit one penny. 

Thirsk is very slightly mentioned by historians and topographers. 
Old Leland, about the year 1544, thus speaks of it in his Itinerary, 
" I saw the small market town of Tresk on the right Hond about 
A Mile from Brakenbyri. At Tresk was a Great Castle of the 
Lords Mowbrays. And there is now a Park with praty wood 
about it. There is much land about that Quarter holden of the 
Signiorie of Tresk. The Broke caullid Coddebeck rising y n the 
Browes of Blake More, thereby commith by Tresk, and after that 
goith into Willowe beck Ryver." 

Camden in his Britannia, A.D. 1582, says "Tkresk, commonly 
Thrusk, had formerly a very strong castle, where Roger de Mow- 
bray began his rebellion, and call'd in the King of Scots to the 
destruction of his country ; King Henry the second having very 
unadvisedly digg'd his own grave, by taking his son into an equal 
share of the government and royalty. But this sedition was, at 
last as it were quencht with blood, and the castle utterly demo- 
lished, so that I could see nothing of it there besides the rampire." 

Blome in his Britannia, 1673, says, " Thrusk a small borough 
town, which electeth Parliament men, where there was once a 
most strong castle, hath a little market on Mondays, and is at 
present of some note for its good ale." 

* Boothroyd's Hist, of Pontefract, p. 110. 



76 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The eccentric Richard Braithwaite, alias Barnaby Harrington, 
alias Drunken Barnaby, who died in 1673, mentions Thirsk in his 
rhymes. 

" Thence to Thyrske, rich Thyrsis casket, 
Where fair Fhillis fills her basket 
With choice flowers ; but these be vain things, 
I esteem no flowers, nor swainlings ; 
In Bacchus yard, field, booth, or cottage, 
I love nought like his cold pottage."* 

In 1553 the town was summoned to send two members to Par- 
liament, when Thomas Legh and Reginald Beseley were returned. 

During the reign of Elizabeth, when England mustered all its 
strength to repel the Spanish invasion, the wapontake of Bird- 
forth, of which Thirsk is the chief town, supplied men, money, 
and arms, as below, f 



* The "cold pottage of Bacchus," loved by the facetious Barnaby appears to be 
only a synonyme for the "good ale " of old Blome. 

+ 24th Eliz., 1581. A rate assessed towards the kingdom's provision, Birdforth 
paid 121. 6s. 2d., of which Thirsk paid 7s. I0d. y Woodallfield 4s. 6d., Carlton Miniott 
and Islebeck 5s., and Topcliffe 8*. 10c?. 

28th Eliz., 1585, Sep. 20. " The charge for 2000 foot men charged upon private 
men," was Richmondshire 667, Langbargh and Whitby Strand 400, Bulmer 280, 
Ridale 200, Birdforth 180, Allertonshire 140, Pickering Lyth 220, Scarborough 23. 

29th Eliz. A division for the proportion of 400 horse in Yorkshire, whereof 133 
were allotted to the North Riding. Richmondshire 44, Langbargh and Whitby 
Strand 26, Bulmer 27, Ridall 14, Birdforth 11, Allertonshire 10, Pickering Lyth and 
Scarborough 11. 

A charge for 220 Oxen for her Majesty's P'vision, at 31. 16s. Sd. each— 422Z. 135. Ad. 
The West-riding paid 168Z. 12s. Sd.; North, 240?. 10*. 9d. ; East, 111Z. 9*. I0d. 
Birdforth Wapontake, 1U. Us. 2d. 

31st Eliz. A rate for light horse in Birdforth. The lady Katharine Constable 2 
sir William Bellassis, Knt., 2 ; Thos. Lascelles, Esq., 2 ; Ra. Tankard, Gent., for his 
own land and Mr. Mennell 2 ; Bryan Askwith, Gent., 1 ; Oswald Metcalf, Gent., 1 
John Clough, Yeo., 1. 

The charge of the Common armour wth their p'ticular furniture, as they are 
charged in evye towne, hamlett, and Grainge within the Wapontake of Birdforth. 
A.D. 1591. 

Thirsk— Corslets 4, Calivers 3, Bylls 1. Woodallfield— Corslets 1, Caliver 1. 
Thorpfield— Cors. I, Bill 1. Sowerbie— Cors. 2, Cal. 3, Bill 1. Bagby, Bagby Cote, 
and ffawdington— Cors. 2, Cal. 2, Byll 1, Archers 1. South Kilvington— Cors. 1, 
Cal. 2, Bill 1. Thornbrough— Cal. 1, Bill 1. Upsall— Cors. 1, Archers 1. Kirbye 
Knowle— Cal. 1, Bill 1. &c. For the whole wapontake— Corslets 63, Calivers 72, 
Bills 28, Archers 18.— Total 181. 

The charge for the private armour wthin this wapontake is— Corslets xx, Calivers 
xxx, Archers c, Bills xxx — Total clxxx. 

Anno Regni Eliz. xxxx. The Streite for the Collect of money wthin the wapontake 



THIRSK. 77 

At the Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the North-riding of 
the county of York, held at Thirsk April 20th, 1636, six Justices 
attempted to fix the rate of wages, viz : 

" A bailiff or husbandman wh in these parts is called an Over- 
man, that is servant of a gentleman that doth not labour shall not 
take by the year with meat and drinke above fower mke & a 
liverie. 

A chief servant of a husbandman that oversees other servants 
shall not take above eight shillings and his liverie. 

A miller that is skillfull in mending of his milne shall not have 
above fiftie shillings, and if he have no skill to mend his milne not 
above fortie shillings. 

A servant in husbandrie that can mowe and plow well shall not 
take for his wages w th meat & drink above fortie shillings and noe 
liverie ; and every other servant shall not have above xxxs. and 
noe liverie. 

A young man between the age of xviii and xxii shall not take 
for his wages by the yeare w th meate and drinke, above 26s. 8d., 
and noe liverie. And from xii to xviii for a young man xiiis. iiii^. 
And for a mayde servant of the same years not above xiiis. iuid. 

A woman servant that taketh charge of brewing, bakeing, niilk- 
yng, or malt-making, that is hired with a gent., rich widd., or rich 
yeoman, whose wife doth not take the charge and payne upon her, 
shall not take for wages with meate and drinke more than xxxiiis. 
iiud. by the yeare. 

Any other woman servant not more than xxiiiiJ. 

A mower of grass shall not take by the day w th meate & drinke 



of Birdforth for the Purveyors, according- to the last compotus yearly to be paid. 

Thirsk vs., Woodallfield iiiid., Thorpfield and Thorp-under-leaf xvid., Sowerby 
iiiis., Carlton Miniott iis., Sand Hutton xvid., South Kilvington iis., Bagby and 
Bagby Cote iis. \id. The above are now included in the Borough of Thirsk. We 
give a few more extracts — Topcliffe iis. iiiid., Little Park iiis., Great Park His., 
Nether Silton and Little Leak iiis., Keelbeck and Hollin-bower His., Arden Abbey 
iiis., Ardenside iis. Hid., Thirkleby xvid., Kirby Knowle and Park iiiis., Upsall iis., 
Hood Grange His. iiiid., Marderbie iiis. iiiid., Mount and ffelixkirke iiis. 

The above statistics are copied from a MS. called " Extracts from my Lord Fau- 
conbergh's Book of Quarter Sessions," now in possession of F. Bell, Esq., The 
Hall, Thirsk. 



78 



THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 



above iuid., and without not above xiid. And for an acre of mea- 
dow mowing without meate & drinke not above xd And for 
mowing, binding, and setting in stooke of one acre of corne w th 
meate & drinke, not above xxiiid. 

A shearer or binder of corn shall not take by the day w th meate 
& drinke above Hid., and without not above viiiJ. 

A haymaker, weeder, or looker of corn, with meate, &c, iid., 
without not above viii^. 

A mayster Tayler beynge a householder according to the statute, 
that shall make gentlemen and gentlewomen their apparel, shall 
not take by the day above mid., and an apprentice not above nd., 
with meate & drinke. 

A common labourer lid., and \d. in winter ; and ind. & vid. in 
summer, with meate, &c. 

No man shall take for threshing a quarter of harde corne above 
xiid., and for a quarter of waire corn not above viiid. 

A mayster free mason in winter mid. with meate, &c, without 
xd. ; in summer Yid. and xiid. per day. All others, not appren- 
tices, iiiid. and xid. 

A mayster Carpenter in winter without meate and drinke yuid. 
and with mid. ; in summer without xiid., with xid. per day."* 



* Attempts have often been made by the legislature to fix the rate of wages, as in 
1348, 1388, 1444, and 1514 — always without success. We give a few specimens of 
each period. 



25th Edward III. (1348). 


12th Richd. 11. (1388). 


Mowers of meadows by the acre. . xd. 

,, ,, by the day . . xd. 
Reapers of corn first week in Aug. 2d. 

„ ,, second per day 3d. 
Without meat or drink. 
Threshers for a quarter of wheat ) . 

or rye, not over > 5 ' 

Barley, beans, or peas lgrf. 

A master carpenter per day 3d. 

Others 2d. 


s. d. 
Bailiff in Husbandry, clothing) 
once, by year y 


Master hyne 100 

Carter 10 


Shepheard 10 

Oxeheard 6 8 


Swineheard 10 


A woman labourer 6 

A deyrie woman 6 


A dry ver of the plough 7 

The above have meat and part 
clothing. 


A master free mason id. 

Others 3d. 


Their servants 3d. 


Without meat or drink. 



THIRSK. 



79 



This document is signed by Tho. ffairfax, Tho. Erton, Tho. 
Hebblethwait, ff. ffrankland, W. Cayley, and Jo. Dodsworth. 

During the civil wars of the seventeenth century Thirsk escaped 
almost untouched } although a body of soldiers was stationed here 
from July, 1640, to December in the following year, during which 
time seventeen of them died.* 

In 1745, during the rebellion in Scotland, a body of Dutch 
auxiliaries, marching to reinforce General Wade's army, then in 
Northumberland, rested some time at Thirsk, and were visited by 
a severe sickness during their stay.f 



23rd Henry VI. (1444). 


6th Henry VIII. (1514). 


s.d. 
Bailiff in husbandry 24 4 


s. d. 
Bailiff in husbandry 26 8 


Clothing- 5 


Hine, carter, or shepheard 20 

Clothinc 4 


Hine, carter, &c 20 


Clothing 5 


Servant in husbandry 15 

Clothino- 3 4 




Clothing- 4 


A woman servant . . , 10 

Clothing- 4 


Woman servant 10 


' Clothing- 4 


With meat and drink. 

Master mason, summer Ad. 

with meat, and without .... f)\d. 

Tylers, Slaters, &c 3d. and A\d. 

Their labourers 2d. and 3^d. 

In winter Id. less. 
A mower Ad. and 6d. 


By the year with meat and drink. 

Free masons, carpenters, rough masons, 
tylers, plumbers, glaziers, carvers, 
joiners, 6d. per day, without meat, 
&c, Ad. with, in summer — in win- 
ter, 5d. and 3d. 




Woman labourer 2\d. and A\d. 



* See Par. Reg. 

f The following- extracts from the Parish Register tell the names and regiments 
of the foreign soldiers who died during their sojourn here. — 

" Burials, 1745. Dec. 31. Abraham Cruitz, a Dutch soldier of La Rocque's Regt. 
Jan. 12. Jan Scharles, a Dutch soldier of Villate's Regiment. 
,, 25. Engel Adryan, a Dutch soldier of La Rocque's Regt. 
„ 28. Adolff Schellard, a Dutch soldier of Pr. Holsten Gott- 

dorf's Regt. 
„ 30. Jacob Laute, a Dutch soldier of Pr. Holsten Gottdorf's 

Regt. 
„ 31. Arent Walters, a Dutch soldier of La Rocque's Regiment." 
Five other soldiers died here within the same period— from their names, apparently, 
Englishmen; 



80 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

In 1754 the river Codbeck overflowed its banks, swept away the 
bridge at the bottom of Finkle-street, and did much damage to 
property on both sides of its course. 

In 1768 an act of Parliament was obtained for making (amongst 
other things) the river Codbeck navigable from its junction with 
the Swale to Thirsk. The difference of level was found to be 
only thirty-six feet, requiring five locks to keep the water at the 
proper height. The works were begun at the Thirsk end, a basin 
was constructed for the vessels, and a wharf built for the landing 
of goods ; a lock was erected near Sowerby, and the river deep- 
ened and its course straightened. The funds failed and the project 
proved abortive. The wharf yet remains, with large iron rings to 
which barges should have been moored, and the lock near Sowerby 
taken down, was converted into a bridge. Had the scheme been 
realised it would have been of considerable advantage to the town 
and trade of Thirsk. 

From its situation on one of the great roads leading north and 
south, Thirsk had a fair share of the benefits derived from the 
traffic and passengers then carried on by stage waggons and 
coaches. There are persons yet living in the town who remember 
the first coach passing through it: and strings of pack horses 
loaded with fish passing from the north into the western part of 
the county. In 1823, besides the Royal Mails four times a day, 
three other coaches passed daily through the town, and a dozen 
carriers at least came and went during the week. This continued 
a prosperous business until the opening of the Great North of 
England Railway in 1841, when the waggons and coaches disap- 
peared from the roads, and the thundering rush of the railway 
train was heard in their stead.* 

* John Bigland in his " Beauties of England and Wales," vol. vi., p. 285, says — 
" one of the chief inconveniences of Thirsk, and the whole Vale of Mowbray, is the 
scarcity and high price of coal, which is brought from the county of Durham in 
small carts containing from 18 to 22 bushels, and varies in price according to the 
season. This is one among many arguments that might be adduced to shew the ad- 
vantages that would result from intersecting the Vale of York by a canal from the 
Tees to the Ouse." Hutton, in his t; Trip to Coatham," 1808, dismisses Thirsk with 
a very brief notice. — 

" Thirsk 11 miles from the Tontine is a handsome town, but disgraced by a shabby 



THIRSK. 81 

In May, 1826, the bridge with the roads and streets on the cast 
side of the town, were flooded to such an extent, in the space of 
half-an-hour, as to be impassable for carts and coaches : the water 
flowing up Finkle-street nearly to the Market-place. This inun- 
dation was caused by the bursting of a water-spout or thunder 
cloud, on Clump hill, about half a mile from the town on the 
Sutton road. 

In 1832 the passing of the Reform Bill changed the constituency 
of the Borough, swept away the privileges of the old Burgage 
holders, and gave the right of electing parliamentary representa- 
tives to the occupiers of houses worth 10/. per annum; at the same 
time taking away one of the members, and enlarging the bounds 
of the Borough from fifty-two houses in €)ld Thirsk, to the whole 
town, and the adjoining villages of Bagby, South Kilvington, 
Sowerby, Carlton Miniott, and Sand Hutton. 

The town was first lighted with Gas in 1836. The undertaking 
was a private speculation of Mr. James Malim, of Hull. Previous 
to that time it was lighted with oil lamps, purchased by subscrip- 
tion in 1819. In 1857, the works were enlarged and the mains 
extended to Sowerby. 

As already stated, in 1841 the Great North of England Bail- 
way was opened to the public, and this town placed in easy com- 
munication with all parts of the country, by more rapid means 
than it had hitherto possessed. In 1844 the line was completed 
from London to Newcastle-on-Tyne, and trains ran the whole dis- 
tance, 303 miles, in about nine hours and a half. About five 
years afterwards the Leeds and Thirsk Railway gave readier 
access to the manufacturing districts. 

Acts of Parliament for the enclosure of the commons and town 



range of buildings in the Market-place : rubbish surrounded by beauty. The situa- 
tion is on the great road from London to the North, yet contains but one Inn for the 
reception of travellers ; but it is an excellent one, though kept by a woman, Mrs. Cass. 

In this place was a castle, the property of the Mowbray family, long - gone to decay. 
Here opened the rebellion mentioned in Topcliff, in the reign of Henry VII., upon 
the introduction of a noxious tax. The famous John a' Chambre was at the head of 
the insurrection. The insurgeuts were reduced by the earl of Surrey ; John was 
executed. 

Thirsk claims a long antiquity. It is connected with a principal Roman road." 

G 



82 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

fields of Thirsk were obtained 41st Geo. III., 1800;* 1st Geo. 
IV., 1820; and 6th and 7th of William IV. The award bears 
date May 10th, 1845. The sole commissioner was Henry Scott, 
Esq., of Oulston. The total quantity of the open and common 
arable fields allotted and enclosed was 314a. Or. 20/?., and the 
same was comprised in ten open town fields called "North Dowber, 
Stoneybrough, South Dowber, Wetlands, Near West Field, Far 
West Field, Near Carlton Butts, Far Carlton Butts, Underwood, 
and Bowncrofts." 

In 1850 the annual show of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society 
was held at Thirsk; the number of entries of stock was 461, ex- 
ceeding that of the previous year at Leeds by 65, and that of the 
following year at BridrHigton by 59. 

Annual races were established at Thirsk in 1854 ; they are held 
in the spring, and continue for two days. The course lies between 
the town and the railway station, and is considered the best in the 
North of England, especially as a trial course for two-year-old 
horses. The races are upheld by subscriptions from the town's 
people and neighbouring gentry. 

Of men distinguished in art, science, or literature, Thirsk and 
its neighbourhood has not been prolific ; its ancient worthies were 
more distinguished as warriors than as authors, more conversant 
with the sword than the pen. In more modern and peaceful times 
they have been content to fight " the battle of life" for daily bread, 

* Previous to this time the town was surrounded by a few small enclosed tofts and 
garths, the homesteads and buildings in the town, and the farms scattered at random 
all over the common fields — here an acre, there a rood. Improvement for the farmer 
was next to an impossibility, as the fencing and draining of his land depended as 
much on the caprice of his neighbour as on himself. In 1629 a small farm of 29| acres, 
occupied by Nicholas Robinson, had the house and buildings in the Market-place, a 
Rayn in Prior Flatt, and the land scattered over the fields in 53 different places, in 
the following manner — 

a. r. 

Tn the West Field 17 2 in 5 places. 

In the Wett Lands 3 in 3 „ 

In the West Field and 

Carlton Butts 1 2 in 6 „ 

In the Bonecross ...... 3 in 3 „ 

In sth. pt. of Underwood 3 1 in 10 „ 
In sth. pt. of North Ings 1 2 in 6 „ 





a. r 




In the Stoneybrough . . 


1 2\ 


in 4 places. 


In the North Dowber.. 


2 1 


in 3 ,, 


In the South Dowber .. 


2 


in 4 ,, 


In the Cawsabarugh . . 


3 


in 3 „ 


In the North and South 






Lands 


3 
3 


in 3 „ 


In Barley Garth Ends.. 


in 3 „ 



THIRSK. 83 

and the few local advantages that wealth can give, instead of 
striving to climb 

" The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar." 

The following biographical memorabilia of literary men, natives, 
or residents of the town of Thirsk, are all that have come to our 
knowledge. 

Thomas Clarkson of Playford Hall, the great anti-slavery leader 
and philanthropist, was a scholar at the grammar school, then held 
in the room under the chancel of Thirsk church. His initials, 
until lately were marked on the wall. He however left the town 
when about fourteen years of age. 

" His was the great master mind whicft by its apostolical agency, 
sought to establish freedom for the slave, in opposition to one of 
the most formidable and detestable confederacies which ever 
afflicted humanity or disgraced the world." 

Chief Justice Wilde began his professional life in Thirsk, as ar- 
ticled clerk to a solicitor named Walker. He left the town when 
about seventeen years of age. 

The Rev. J. B. Jefferson, an Independent minister, wrote " The 
History of Thirsk;" published in 1821. He died at Attercliffe, 
near Sheffield, in 1826. 

The Rev. R. Keeling, for some years a TTesleyan minister at 
Thirsk, wrote a biography of Farel, a contemporary of Luther's. 

Matthew M. Milburn, for several years secretary to the Yorkshire 
agricultural society, was author of numerous approved hand books 
and essays on agricultural subjects. 

The Rev. James Catton, a Wesleyan minister, author of a poem 
entitled " Eden," was stationed for some time in Thirsk. 

The Rev. J. J. Barr, also a Wesleyan, resided here a few years: 
he is author of " Recollections of a Minister," " Chapters to the 
Young;" and contributions to the Wesleyan Magazines. 

The Rev. John Kelly, now of Liverpool, an eminent Indepen- 
dent minister, and author of a valuable work entitled " Discourses 
on Holy Scripture," was for some time in his youth resident in 
Thirsk. 



84 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The Rev. Frederick Addison, a native of Thirsk, Episcopal 
minister of Cleator near Whitehaven, formerly of Ossett, is author 
of a pamphlet report of a lecture on " The Great Empires of the 
Earth." 

The Rev. R. Burgess, now minister of one of the Chelsea parishes, 
and one of the clergymen of the Established Church who have 
preached lately in Exeter Hall, and who is supposed by many to 
have a fair prospect of becoming a bishop, in his youth^was placed 
as an apprentice with a shoemaker in Kirkgate in this town. He 
is author of "Topography and Antiquities of Rome," 2 vols., 
" Tour in Greece and the Levant," 2 vols., and other works. 

Ella, at present one of the best musicians in orchestral per- 
formances, in Her Majesty's theatre and other concerts in London, 
originally sprung from an old Saxon family, which for three 
hundred years has been settled at Upsall, Kirkby Knowle, Bagby, 
and other places in the neighbourhood of Thirsk. 

In speaking of the living notabilities of the town, we ought not 
to forget the self-taught artist Mr. Bartholomew Smith ; who from 
his youth upward has been engaged in commercial pursuits, not- 
withstanding which he has acquired a high degree of excellency 
in drawing and oil painting, as well as displayed much fine feeling 
and artistic genius. Nearly all his leisure time has been devoted 
to the cultivation of this fine art, and consequently he has pro- 
duced a great number of works, principally landscapes with cattle, 
and sea scenes ; most of which are now in private hands at Leeds, 
Manchester, and York. He has occasionally sent pictures to the 
Liverpool Academy, and the York Art Union, as well as contri- 
buted to the Boston Anti-Slavery Bazaar. Of his donations to 
the last, one was purchased by Mrs. H. B. Stowe, and a scene 
from " Uncle Tom's Cabin," now in the collection of a gentleman 
of Rochester (U.S.) was much admired. His best works are, 
perhaps, a " Harvest Field," now at York. And of those that still 
remain in his own possession — " A Family Group" — " An Evening 
Cattle piece," and a large view of " Rivaulx Abbey" — (a monument 
of skill and industry). Mr. Smith has for many years conducted 
a drawing class in connection with the Mechanics' Institute, and 



THIRSK. 85 

by his influence and example has encouraged a taste for art amongst 
the rising generation of the town. 

Mr. Thomas Smith, a brother of the above, was a man of more 
than ordinary talent ; his mind was methodical in a high degree, 
and he delighted and excelled in close and logical reasoning, cal- 
culation, and statistics. He was chairman of the Thirsk Poor Law 
Union for many years before his death. The savings bank, dis- 
pensary for the poor, and every charitable institution and public 
improvement in the town was promoted and encouraged by him. 
A more estimable man never breathed. 

Jonah Horner, M.D., now a resident physician in Thirsk, is 
author of two medical works in a popular style, entitled " Instruc- 
tions to the Invalid on the nature of the* Water Care, 1855" — and 
" Health: what preserves and what destroys it, 1857," &c. 

Mr. J. G. Baker, a resident and native of Thirsk, is author of 
many valuable works on Botany, &c. He published, in conjunction 
with Mr. Nowell of Todmorden, a " Supplement to the Flora of 
Yorkshire " in 1854 ; also a pamphlet on the " Geognostic relations 
of the plants of Britain ;" and a series of contributions to the Phy- 
tologist, from 1851 to 1857. He has also published two fasciculi 
of dried specimens " Hieracia of North Yorkshire and Teesdale," 
and " Plantse Criticse Britannicse Exsicatse, 1855." The chapter on 
" The Geology, Botany, Natural History, and Physical Geography 
of the Vale of Mowbray" contained in this volume, is contributed 
by him. 

The following old ballad was published by Dr. Kenrick in 1765. 

"£fje ISstfar of £f)tn>fc's ^Forfeits, 
i. 

First come, first served — Then come not late, 
And when arrived keep your sate (seat) ; 
For he who from these rules shall swerve. 
Shall pay his forfeit— So observe. 

II. 

Who enters here with boots and spurs, 
Must keep his nook, for if he stirs, 
And gives with arm'ed heel a kick, 
A pint he pays for every prick. 



86 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

ii r. 

Who rudely takes another's turn, 
By forfeit glass— may manners learn ; 
Who reverentless shall swear or curse, 
Must lug seven ha'-penee from his purse. 

IV. 
Who checks the barber in his tale, 
Shall pay for that a gill of yale ; 
Who will, or cannot miss his hat, 
Whilst trimming pays a pint for that. 

V. 
And he who can but will not pay, 
Shall hence be sent half trimm'd away ; 
For will he — nill he — if in fault, 
He forfeit must in meal or malt. 
But mark the man who is in drink, 
Must the cannikin oh, never, never y clink," 

We recommend the humour of the above to the followers of 
the " Barber's craft" in Thirsk at this our day. 

During the 17th century, tradesmen in Thirsk, as well as nearly 
all towns, coined tokens to supply the deficiency of copper money. 
We have only met with two belonging to this town. One of them 
bears on the obverse, the arms of the family of Bell, (same as now 
borne by Frederick Bell, Esq., of the Hall) and ROBERT bell. 
On the reverse of thirske, 1664, in the field R . B - E . This token 
is of brass, very thin, and about the size of a fourpenny piece. 
The other bears on the obverse the grocers' arms, and John 
page in. On the reverse thirsk, 1668, and in the field i. p c . 

The following remarks on this kind of coinage, are by James 
War dell, Esq., author of " The Antiquities of Leeds." 

" Previously to the death of king Charles L, the English copper 
coinage was not only scanty, but in a most deplorable state, and so 
serious was the inconvenience to the public that tradesmen through- 
out the country assumed the privilege of coining and issuing 
"Tokens" in brass and copper, bearing the name and often the 
trade of the issuer, in addition to the denomination. They are of 
very inferior design and workmanship, and of various forms, the 
circular one being the most common, but varieties exist of the 
square, octagonal, heart, and lozenge shapes. This species of coin- 
age continued in circulation from the year 1648 to 1672, when it 
was ordered to be discontinued by royal proclamation. Some of 



THIRSK. 87 

the specimens arc very curious, and after supplying the require- 
ments of trade in their day, are not without their use even now, 
from the light they throw on family history ; and this county was 
very prolific in the issue of them, there being about four hundred 
varieties known to be in existence." 



THE MANOR OF THIRSK. 

At the time of the Domesday survey, as already noticed, there 
were two manors in Thirsk, one in the hands of the King, the 
other in those of Hugh the son of Baldric ; both were soon after- 
wards held by the Mowbrays : they do not appear however to 
have become united until subsequent to the age of Henry VIII. 
About the year 1277, we find that the manor of Woodhall at 
Thirsk, was held by Roger de Mowbray in demesne, for three 
carucates of land, of the King in capite. And Adam de Pyketon* 
held in the same manor one carucate of land and three acres of 
meadow of Roger de Mowbray, who held it of the king in capite, 
by no rent.f 

In 1321, King Edward II. gave to John earl of Richmond and 
Brittany, among others, the manor of TFoodhall, and the town of 
Thirsk, which had belonged to John de Mowbray. J 

This manor was again held by the Mowbrays, at least, till the 
1st Henry IV., when we lose sight of it, until 34th Henry VIII., 
1543, when on the 19th of February in that year, it was granted 

* Torre's MSS. 
+ Ade de Piketon in 1313 had a confirmation from the king of 40s. rent in fee in 
Belton, of the men of Roger de Mowbray, with all the land called Calvehovj 
(q. Calvis Hall) in the territory of Thirsk, with a meadow belonging to the same, 
with common of pasture and all birds in the Park. 

" Pat. 7, Edw. II., p. 1, m. 23. 
" Rex confirmavit Ade de Piketon in feodo 40s., reddit in Belton de Hominibus 
Rogeri de Mowbray in Belton, &c, totam terram vocat Calvehow in Territorio de 
Thresk, subtus Dunland unacum Prato pertinen ad eandem Terram ac cum Com- 
munia Pastur ad omnia Averia sua in Parco dicti Eogeri de Dunyland, &c." 

i " Carta. 15 Edw. II., n. 20. 
" Rex concessit Johanni de Britannia Comiti Richmondie (inter alia) Manerium de 
la Wodehalle et Villain de Thresk. Com. Ebor. cum pertinentijs que fuerunt 
Johannis de Mowbray, &c." 



88 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

by letters patent under the great seal of England to Robert 
Archbishop of York. 

By a Deed of exchange (now in the Augmentation Office) the 
same Robert Archbishop of York conveys to King Henry VIII. 
(inter alia) the manor of Thirsk and all his estate there, receiving 
from the King (amongst other things) in return the Rectory of 
Thirsk, the advowson of the Vicarage, with the Tithe Corn of 
Sowerby and other places belonging thereto. We give an extract 
from this Deed. — 

" This Ind're made the sixte day of Februarie in the sixe & 
thirtie yere of the reign of the most Excellente and Victorious 
Prynce our Natural Soveraigne Lorde Henry the Eighth, by the 
Grace of God Kinge of England, France, and Irlande, Defendour 
of the Faith and of the Churche of England and also of Irlande, 
in Erthe the supreme hedde. Betweene the same our soveraigne 
Lord the Kinge, of th' one partie, and the Revende Father in God 
Robert Archebusshoppe of York of th* other partie. "Witnessethe 
that the saide Archebusshoppe hath bargayned and solde and for 
hym and his successeours doth fullie and clerely geve, graunte, 
bargayne, and sell unto our said Soveraigne Lorde the Kinge to 
his Heires and Successours for ever (inter alia). All those Lord- 
shippes and Manours of the said Archebusshoppe of Topclyffe, 
Thurske, Asenby, Gristhwaite, Difford, Renton, Newby, Skip ton, 
Catton, Northby, Dalton, Carlton, &c, in the said countie of 
Yorke, with all their members, Rights, Comodities, and Appurte- 
nances." The deed then goes on to describe the appurtenances of 
the said manor, as messuages, burgages, pastures, deer-houses, 
barcaries, woods, &c, &c. — "whiche the saide Archebusshoppe 
in right of the said Archebusshopprick of Yorke is entitled, or 
ought to have in the saide places before mentioned, which our 
said Soveraigne Lorde the King by his letters patents, sealed un- 
der the Greate Seale of England bearing date the 19th Feby., in 
the four and thirtie year of his Majesty's Reign did geve and 
graunt unto Edward late Archebusshoppe of Yorke and to his 
successours. 

" In consideration of, and for whiche Bargayne, &c., our said 



THIRSK. 89 

Sovereign Lord the Kinge is contented and pleased, and by these 
present Indentures for hym his heires and successours promiseth, 
graunteth, bargayneth, and agreeth, to and with the said now 
Archebusshoppe and his successours, that the said now Arche- 
busshoppe shall from henceforth have, hold, and enjoy to him, 
and to his successours for ever, All those Rectories, parsonages, 
and Churches, of our saide Soveraign the Kinge, of Gisborne, &c. 
And also all those messuages, orchards, Barnes, and Tithes of 
Corne of our saide Soveraigne Lorde the Kinge, with their appur- 
tenances in Thirske in the said countie of Yorke, &c, &c."* 

The present manor includes Thirsk, Sand Hutton, Carlton 
Miniott, and Bagby. 

The earlier records and Court-rolls of the manor have perished, 
and it is only from the year 1623, when James earl of Derby was 
Lord, that any full account of the manor and the proceedings of 
its courts can be given, for in that year the existing Court-rolls 
commence. 

First on the roll we have the names of the Free Tenants (Lib'i 
Tenantes) who held their lands by military service. They are a 
numerous and respectable body, holding lands in many parts of 
Yorkshire — shewing the extent and importance of the Lordship 
of Thirsk when the feudal law was in its full vigour. The entries 
are in abbreviated Latin, we give them in English. 

William Lord Eure for land in Malton and Welham. 

Henry Bellassis, Knight and Bart., for his manor of Coxwold 
and Thornton-on-the-Hill. 

Charles Cavendish, Esq., for land in Hovingham, Fryton, and 
Slingsby. 

William Lascelles, Esq., for Brackenbaragh. 

Henry Slingsby, Kt., for land in Moor Monkton, late Fairfax. 

Christ. Danby, Esq., for land in Cave and elsewhere. 

Thomas Wentworth, Kt. and Bart., for the manor of Thorp 
Arch. 



* It has been suggested to us that the manors, lands, &c, here exchanged by the 
archbishop and the king-, might only be the lands of the dissolved religious houses, 
lying within those manors and places. 



90 THE TALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Thomas Cholmley, Esq., for land in Bransby, Steresby, and 
Brafferton. 

Charles Meynell, Esq., for the manor of Hawnby. 

John Huddleston, Esq., for land in Baynton. 

John Lepton, Esq., for land in Kepwick and Little Leake. 

Thomas Percy, Esq., for land in By ton. 

Robert Thornton, Gent., for land in Newton. 

Geo. Lamplough, Kt.. for land in Carlton and Sand Hutton. 

Anthony Palmer, Kt., for the manor of Cowsby. 
In 1624 we find some additions to the number and changes — 

Arthur Ingram, Kt., for Breckenbrough, vice Lascelles. 

James Morley, for the manor of Hawnby, vice Meynell. 

Thomas, Maleverer, Esq., for land in Allerton and elsewhere. 

Henry Stapleton, Esq., for land in Easdike and WighilL* 
1627, Francis earl of Rutland, for land in Helmsley and elsewhere. 

The rents paid by these noble tenants were merely nominal, 
sometimes 65. Sd. is marked opposite their names, and sometimes 
smaller sums. Palmer's rent for Cowsby was 2s. per annum. 
Huddleston's for Baynton the same, others only Is. 

The free tenants' names keep decreasing from the roll, so that 
in 1794 there are only seven. 

The most noble Thomas duke of Newcastle, for his lands in 
Hovingham, Fryton, and Slingsby. 

Lord Viscount Eauconberg, for his manor of Coxwold and 
Thornton-on-the-Mount. 

The most noble duke of Northumberland, for his manor of 
Breckenbrough. 

Charles Duncombe, Esq., for his lands in Helmsley. 

Thomas Worsley, Esq., for his lands in Hovingham. 

Francis Cholmley, Esq., for his manor of Bransby. 

Danby, Esq., for his lands in Cave. 

* By inquisition post mortem made at Thirsk, April 22nd, 1631, the jury say upon 
oath, that Henry Stapleton, late deceased, held two-and-a-half carucates of land 
with appurts., in Easdike and Wighill in the County of York ; and they also say 
that he held them by permission of the most noble James lord Strange, lord of this 
manor, by knight's service (servic militar) as half a knight's fee ; and that the an- 
nual value of the same was 13Z. 6s. Sd.— Court Rolls of Thirsk Manor, Anno 1631. 



TILIRSK. 91 

Francis Huddles ton, Esq., for his lands in Bainton. 

The Grand Inquest was held twice in the year, in May and 
October, at which times the names of all the tenants and "Rese- 
ants " within the manor were called over, nuisances presented, 
" pains " laid, and the officers of the manor appointed. Courts 
were held every three weeks for the recovery of debts under 40s., 
to which all the wapontake appears to have resorted. 

In the beginning of the seventeenth century the government 
and internal police of the town was in the hands of the following 
officers : — 

A Borough Bailiff* (Ballivi Burghi) elected annually, before 
whom the three weeks courts were generally held. 

Two Constables,! for our Lord the King, and the Borough and 
Town of Thirsk (Constabulari pro D'no. Regis et Burgh et Vil- 
lain de Thirsk). 

Two Leather Searchers and Sealers,J (Scrutator et sigillator 
coriaii pellii). 

Two Fieldgraves (Supervisor Campo) and one, sometimes two, 
Pound keepers or Binders. 

Four Market Searchers,§ (Fori Scrutator). 

Four Ale Tasters,^" (Gustator S'vicia). 

Four Afferators and twelve Jurymen. 

* List of Borough Bailiffs as far as can be made out from the Court-rolls. — 

1623. Rogerus Ray. 1629. Ric'us Lockwood, Gent. 

1624. Raphe Bell. 1630. Thoma Williamson de Bagbye. 

1625. Joh'es Donuynge Georgius Simpson, deputy. 

1626. X'polbr Lumley. 1631. Stephanu' W T ilsonde Danby Wiske. 
1627: Ric'us Phipps. 1632. Joheni Pibus. 

1628. Henry Comynge. 1633. Joh'ni Deacon. 

The above are from the first vol. of court records. 

1739. John Routh. 1762. Robert Shepherd, Gent. 

1741. William Coates. 1785. Francis Shepherd, Gent. 

1742. John Routh. M. Joseph Peat. 

1749. Robert Shepherd, Gent. 1832. Mr. Robert Armitage, prest. bailiff. 

t The Constables for Carlton Miniott and Sand Hutton were also appointed at 
those Courts, but not the constable of Bagby. 

X Leather Sealers and Searchers do not oecur after 1767. 

§ Market Searchers appear to have been discontinued in 1750. 

IT The Ale Tasters (self elected) are in existence yet. 



92 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The lord of the manor had also a Seneschal or High Steward, 
above the Steward or Seneschal who presided at the Grand 
Inquest. 

In 1631, "The Rt. Wo'pful S r Tho: Postu: Hoby, Kt., Eighe 
Steward of y e s d Manor.* 

The courts took cognizance of " Bloodes," " Affrayes," and 
" Assalts." For the first, which implied that blood had been drawn 
by violence, ten shillings was the common penalty : for the two 
others three shillings and fourpence was considered a suflicient 
expiation. At the court held October 10th, 1623, ten cases of the 
former, and eighteen of the latter kind were presented, and all the 
offenders were fined. f 

Pigs unrung have been a great source of annoyance to local 
legislators, at all times and in all places. In 1623, we find " quatuor 
porcus inanulat viiid," or 2d. each. Afterwards the fine was in- 
creased to Is. a sow and 6d. each pig, going at large unrung ; and 
hardly one of the great court days passes without "pains" being 
laid on pigs. The greatest number of " pains " relate to the repair 
of gates and fences, and the scouring of gutters and watercourses. 

In 1624, we find precautions taken as if an enemy were ex- 
pected; and an order made, " That the constables shall henceforth 
sett and observe the day watch, and from day to day see the watch 
be sett, according to the order sett downe, as accustomed by the 
justices of peace, upon payne of eache of them so neglecting, or 
making default xxs." 

The duties and wages of the borough bailiff are fully set forth 
in the following petition to lord Strange, lord of the manor, with 
his lordship's answer. 



* Sir Thomas Posthumus Hoby, Kt., was many years High Steward of this manor. 
He represented Ripon in five parliaments. 

t The common form of entering " Bloodes " and " Affrayes." 

1632, " Item Jur. p'di p' ntant Elizabetham Symondson Vid.et Joheam Symondson 
filiu eius de Bagby Quia vi et armis et insult et affria fecit et violenter sanguinem 
extraxit in et sup' Leon'dus Wetherall de ead, infra hoc man'ui s'clit undecimio die 
April ult. xs." 

" Item, Jurator, p'di p'sentant Thoma Thornton quia insult et affraia fecit in et 
sup Edrus Taylor infra hoc Man'ui contra pacem, &c, iiis. iiijd." 



THIRSK. 93 

" Octo die Octobris Anno D'ni., 1630. 

u The righte hon'ble James lord Strange, lord of this manor is 
well pleased that it shal be declared in open courte that he hath 
yeielded unto the petic'on exhibbitted by the borroughe bayliffs 
and borroughmen of the towne of Thirsk, thereupon the third day 
of Sept., 1627, and th'ther, upon the second day of July, A. D'no. 
1630, according to his answer sett upon the same petic'ons, and 
signed by his lo p * And his lo p is further pleased that true copies of 
the said peticons and of his lo ps answer on them written shal be 
inserted as well in the courte book as in the rowles of this cote in 
manner following viz. : — * 

To the righte AVo'pfull S r Tho. Posthu Hoby, knight, chief 
comissio'r for the righte hon ble James lord Strangue. 

The humble peticion of Xpofor Lumley, now borough balyffe of 
Thirske — humbly sheweth unto yo r wo p that the bayliffe of the 
borough of Thirsk have always had and taken the am' ciamt s of 
the estreate that yeare, wherein he was bayliffe to his owne use 
forfeited and founde against p'sons offenders, although the estreats 
were in the lord's name, in regard the bayliffe was att charges of 
the courte dinners and suppers, and at ffayers w 111 the officers, and 
now of late many w ch are am' cied will pay nothing, for that they 
say that he hath not authority to get them up ; and yo r peticonr 
can gett nothing of them, or very little. May it therefore please 
yo r w p that you would grant yo r said peticonr yo r warr 1 for the 
collectinge therof to his owne use as formerly he hath done for the 
strengthening thereof. And he will dayly pray for yo r wo p in all 
happiness longe to continue. Thus, &c. 2d July, 1630. The bo- 
rough bayliffs there have anciently and att this instant doe allowe 
horsmeat and mans meate for the Lords highe Steward, clerke of 
the courte, their servants and friends, and to the lord's baliffe 
and his deputy att all head courts, three week courts, and at all 
ffayres. And they w th a competent nomber and company of the 
towne doe attend his lop 8 officers in ryding and p'clayming the 
ffayres, upon the ffayre dayes, and beares the chardges therof. 

• Manor de Thirsk 3 die Sept., 1627. 



94 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The borough baliffe and townsmen doe yearly twise aide the 
lord's baliffe in driving the comons and moores, and findinge 
wayves and straies amongst the great multitudes of cattell, and 
att the borough baliff's chardges. 

And the borough men having free election of burgesses doe 
usually (if the lord of the manor require the same) electe for one 
of their burgesses some worthie p'son as the lord comaundeth them. 

In leiu of w Gh services and charges the borough baliffe hath 
w^out tyme wh'rof the memory of man cannot remember the 
contrary had and received the p'quisite of the Co te for Am'ciant* 
in the towne fields and comons excepte the Am'ciant s for non-ap- 
pearances, and for neglect of bonds and services. 

Dele unto his lo p# 

Lathome, 4th of August, 1630. 

I am contented the borough baliffs shall enjoy what herein they 

desire upon the termes herein specified during my pleasure : they 

paying to the steward att ev y chief c e * " 

We now give a selection of "paines" for offences against the 
good government of the town. 

" 6th May, 1623, Will's de Tanfield is presented for selling 
leather without the same having first been searched and sealed, 
(non scrutat sigillat vendidebat vs). 

" 1628, the jury doe p'sent all brewsters, bakers, and hempe 
raters, ii^. a piece. 

In 1629, the jury present Christ. Render of Carlton Husthwaite 
for forstalling the market by selling therein before the ringing 
of the bell (" antequam campana sonut hV) Many are presented 
for the same offence in the following year. 

They also present Eichard Brittain for selling flesh in the 
market, which was putrid, and not fit for human food, (" vendit 
carnem infra fori de Thirske : qua putrifactus fuit et insalubrio 
humano corpori xxs.") 

1630, " A payne laid that noe freeholder within the manu of 
Thirske, shall erecte any cottage for habitac'on or dwelling, nor 
convert or ordeyne any building or howsing already made, or 
hereafter to be made to be used as a cottage for habitaco 11 or dwell- 



tiiirsk. 95 

ing, unlesse he doe assigne and lay to the said cottage fewer acres 
of grounde att the least accord ng to the measure allowed by the 
lawes and statutes of this realme, upon payne to fforfitt for cv^ such 
cottage soc erected unlawfully y e sum of x 11 -" 

" A payne laid that noe {Freeholder w th in this manu shall after 
the fifth day of March next ensuing, unlawfully contynue any 
cottage erected since the feast of Easter, w h was in the xxxi lh yeare 
of her late maty s reigne quene Elizabeth, whereunto there is not 
fower acres of ground assigned and laide accord 1 ^ to the said 
measure upon payne to forfeit for every monith x u " 

" A payne laid that there shall not be any inmate or more f ami- 
lyes than one in a cottage or other bowsing, lawfully erected (except 
the overseers of the poore shall licence the same) upon payne that 
ev y owner and ocupyer of the said cottage or howsing, placing, or 
willingly suffering any such inmate, or more famylies than one in 
any such cottage, to forfitt xs. for every moneth that any such in- 
mate or more famyles than one shall inhabit in any such cottage 
or howsing aforesaid." 

" A payne laid that noe inhabitant within this manu doe take, 
or entertayne any stranger or fory r to be his ten'nt in any of his 
houses, till he have firste laid in capital pledges according to the 
lawe. And if any such inhabitant or other p'son that have already 
taken in any such p'son or p'sons into any of their houses, w ch 
have not founde pledges as aforesaid, that then he or they shall 
remove such p'sons taken in before the xxv th day of M'che next, 
upon payne to forfeit for every default 39s. sid. ob." 

" 1630, Jurator p'sentant q a Henricus Kildayle custodit una 
comu Taberna, Anglice a comon ale house in Thirsk, infra hoc 
Manueriu in domo in qua modo inhabitat, et vendidit optima 
cervitia, Anglice, his best beare or ale, ultra rata unius quarta p. 
uno Denario, contra forma statuti xiid." 

In 1637, forty alehouse keepers* were presented, and fined four 
pence each for selling ale beyond the rate fixed by law. Eighty- 
one parties in the same year were presented fourpence each for 

* In 1823, the number of inns and ale houses was only 26, when the population was 
probably double. 



96 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

"rating hempe" in the river; which shews that its cultivation 
was then carried on to a considerable extent. 

In 1633, John Flint and Richard Wright for fishing in the river 
Codbeck, without licence of the lord of the manor, are fined, Flint 
25., Wright 6d. 

1741 " Item, that no person shall grave or get turves off the 
Westmoor, either with a horse or cart, but what they shall bring 
on his, her, or their backs, on pain of forfeiting for every offence 
6s. Sd. 

At the next court, fourteen offenders are fined 5s. each, and 
sixteen others 2s. 6d. each for getting turves with carts. 

If we may judge from the following sanitary laws, the streets 
of Thirsk in the middle of the 18th century were only in a 
filthy state. 

1747, " That the butchers shall not empty their beasts entrails 
in any of the streets of Thirsk, on pain of forfeiting for every 
such offence 5s." 

This is repeated in 1750, and the penalty is 65. 8c?. 

1747, " That no person shall suffer their dunghills to lay in the 
streets above three days, on pain of forfeiting for every such 
offence 5s." 

" That no person shall suffer their carts or waggons to stand in 
the streets, on pain of forfeiting for every such offence 5s." 

" That no scabbed or glandered horses be suffered to feed upon 
y e commons belonging to Thirsk, on pain of forfeiting every such 
horse." 

In the small debts court we have entries of all kinds of matters 
in which one person can become indebted to another ; we extract 
a few, shewing the prices of labour, and various other articles at 
that time. 1623, " viiis. for a quarter of coles." " xviiid. for a 
horse load of coles." 1632, " for half a q r of raley coales iis. vid." 
1624, " iis. for a bushel of barley." 1622, " 7s. 6d. for two bushels 
of malt." 1625, " iis. iiiiJ. for a bushel of hempe seed." 1627, 
" xvs. for a quarter of beans." 1628, " xxs. p. ii qrs of oates." 
" 39s. for a q r and halfe of malt." 1626, xis. for a cowgate." " ixs. 
for three horses winter grass this last winter in Dowlands." " xxd. 



TIIIRSK. 



95 



for a calf grass this last somer." 162<3, " iis. vie/, for a horse grass 
five weeks." 1623, " ixs. for the milk of a cow." 

The wages of labour appear very low at this time. 1626, " for 
four days' mowing 4s." " Jacob as Metcalf, V'sus Joh'es Williamson, 
p. iiis. vie?, for his man and his maid servants' wages, for the man 
four days, and the maid, wages for three days." 1630, " xiiis. pr. 
a q ter of a yere's s'rvce from purifi' last until May day next ensuyng 
viz 1 att xij. p. weeke." 1622, " Will'mo. ffowler, p. v'sus Symon 
Browne iis. for two days' mowing, and 8 d. for a day's wage for 
forking to a stack." 1626, " Joh'es Harryson, v'sus Joh'es Buttrick 
p. iiiis. viiieZ. for not paying his charges when he wente to trayne 
w h his muskett, being fourteen days w ch he p'mised to pay the p. 
after iiije/. a day." 1624, " Willmus ffowler p. v'sus Thomam 
Metcalfe iiiicZ. p. labore suo xx. ovebz lavabant." Fourpence for 
washing twenty sheep — the least sum entered in the books. 1630, 
"Rob'tus Dun de Thormandby, p. v'sus Thomas Staveley gent, 
de eod in pit debi p. ivs. p. salar suo p. duodecim Septimanas p. 
4:d. a weeke." 

1624, "Will's Smyth P. v'sus Wili'mus Bardon xivs. viid. p. salar 
p. ardene 7 chawder of lyme att iis. id. a chawder." 

1631, " Will's Bowes de Thirsk P. v'sus Ric'u Phipps debi. sup 
d'dam iis. Sd. viz* iis. for five days for the P. hand la we and 8 d. as 
lent money." 

1631, Joh'es Sharpe P. v'sus Joh'em Jackson on d'dm xs. for his 
hand la we for making x. qtrs. of bark." 

Rents in comparison with the price of corn, are very low. 

1632, " vs. rent for an acre of land." 1630, " vs. viiiJ. rent of 
an acre and a half of land in Underwood." 1623, " xxiis. for the 
rent of a house and 4s. for the rent of a shopp." 1627, " vis. xuid. 
for half a year's rent of a house on St. James' Greene." 

We give a few more miscellaneous curiosities; some of them will 
have a strange sound to modern ears. 

" 12 May, 1624, Joh'es fflint P. v'sus Joh'em Wardell detenu, 
nn. sword w th hingers and Scawbert ad valor vs." 

1624, M Radus Nelson P. v'sus X'porum Lumley, Rogerum Ray 



98 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

and Wm. Ray in pi. deten. un ferr instrument Ang. vocat a 
Stiddye, valor 39s." 

1624, " X'poferus Lumley v. X'porum ffawcett detenu un. saddle 
w th sturrubs, ad valor vs." 

1637, " One cov'lett ad valor viiic?. 2 pillow bears ad valor 3d. 
and one feth r codd ad val. 18c?. one p r of britches ad val. 8c?., 2 
pewter dublers ad val. 2s. 8c?,, a double pewter salt ad val. 18c?." 
1628, "A brasse pott 4s. 6c?., a cbaire 2 quishingh and 2 nackitt 
3s." " 8s. for a kymlyn." 1632, " lSd. for a p r of spurrs." 1633, 
" 3s. resid. pricui un subedegaculo, viz* Ang. a pr. of Britches." 
1624, " vs. for an iron gallowbawk." " 2 Dublers of pewter 3s., 
kettle valor xs., a chist 2s., and a malyn cord xc?." " A cloke and 
saveguard valor xxs." " Un saddle cloath, color yellow xis. iiid." 
1631, "a purse and a belte, a knife w h a sheathe & a p r cizors. ad 
valeucia xxic?." 

" May 6, 1623, Joh'es fflint v. Anthonius Gamble for pts. of 3 
lambs, beinge tithe ; one of them being worth 4s. 8c?., another 
4s. 6c?., and the third 3s. 8d., and his third pt. att 3s. 8c?." 

1631, "Thomas Meynell Ar. P. v'sus Johem Stephenson de Oliver 
Moore al's Thorpefield iiiis. iiiic?. viz 1 3s. 4c?. for putting goods on 
the comon of Sowerby w'thout righte and also xiic?. for not doing 
his s'rvice att P. cot e being lord of the manor of Sowerby." 

1625, " Anthonius Gamble v. Joh'es Shott labore viz. ridyng w* 
his horse about his occasions for helping him to his wife and 
speaking at large for him, damage xxxixs. xic?." 

Jan 18, 1624, The lord of the manor is P. in his own court 
against " Thomas Wilkinson of Carlton xs., value of the goods and 
chattels of Thomas Hewet a condemned felon." 

1625, " Thoma Holmes de Bippon v. Thoma Carter de Duse- 
berry, for not deliv'ng of 28 stone of greene grasse al's wash 
woad the P. paying deft. ixs. 4c?. in hand and the resid. att his 
del'vy itt." 

1627, "Kadus Tewhall v. Hen. Gamble, for disowying his oth, 
ad damage vs." 

1628, " Matheus Toppin v. Edwardum Waide, p. scandolos 
verbis videlt, that he P. did draw forth drink att Cattcrick Brigg 



THIRSK. 99 

out of another man's buttrye w h his hatt and made himself drunk 
therewith ad damage xxxixs." 

Other " Verbis scandaloso," " thou art a Bankrupt fellowe 39s. 
xic?." " Thou art a shepe stealer 39s." "A cheating rogue and 
slave 39s." 

1626, " X'poferus Lumley de Thirsk P. v. Roger Raper sup 
assumpsit for not sealing and delivering y e dedes of his howse in 
Ingberrygate w ch the P. bought of him, ad damage xxxixs. xid." 

1626, "Will's Snowdon de Leake Clir. v. Will'm Dale de ffelix- 
church sup assumpsit xs. for Phisick viz 1 for P. Direc'on in Phiss'ck 
and two Dyitt drinks." 

April 22, 1631, "Will's Bell de Sowerby et Eliz uxem v'sus 
William Lowp de Sandhutton detenu un p'ce auri valor 
22s. delev'd by Mr. Geo. Clough unto the deft, for bequest to 
the P." 

February 27th, 1637, " Thomas Ward de Borooby v. Georgius 
Cuthbert de Thornton in le Moor xxs. w ch the deft, together with 
Matthew Hardy promised to pay to the P. for the finishing of the 
back of the pulpitt, shifting or removing of the fount att Little 
Otterington church or chappell, and amending of the minr. seat 
there." 

1626, " Ric'us Barnes v. Wm. Bell de Brawth xxs. upon a lay or 
wager, that a ffish was quick & dead both upon Saturday the last 
past." 

The above are only a few of the many curious entries made in 
the earlier records of the manor ; some of them may appear trifling, 
but they all, more or less, exhibit some of the peculiarities of the 
lives and manners of our ancestors. The business done at one 
time in these courts was very great. In the year 1623, the court 
was held fifteen times, and three hundred cases of debt are set 
down for trial, many of them were settled out of court, and not 
more than one half of them came before the jury. In the middle 
of the 18th century the authority of the court begins to decline, 
the cases entered for trial become fewer, and at length the business 
departs entirely. In 1777 there were only two debt cases, in 1778 
only one, and the last on the books is in 1791. 

t^c 



100 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The courts are yet regularly held in the autumn ; the Steward* 
presides, and the borough bailiff is appointed and sworn : the rest 
of the business is merely formal. 



THE BOROUGH. 



Thirsk is a Borough by prescription, and probably owes its 
origin to the castle erected here by the princely family of Mowbray, 
soon after the conquest, as no mention is made of castle or borough 
in the Domesday survey. 

As soon as the lord of the fee had fixed on the site of his strong- 
hold, the workmen required for its erection would necessarily 
draw together a considerable number of others, whose business 
would be to supply the builders with the means of subsistence. 
After the castle was built, and the lord and his retainers had taken 
up their abode within its walls, tradesmen, artificers, and others 
necessary to administer to their wants or luxuries, must soon have 
begun to build their dwellings around that of their patron. In 
this manner the town grew into importance, and its inhabitants, 
under the authority of its lord, held markets for the supply of their 
neighbours. 

" Somner in his ' Saxon Dictionary' tells us, that burgh signifies 
a city, fort, fortress, tower, castle, or borough, free-borough, or 
town corporate. And whether burgh was taken for a place of 

* We give the names of the Stewards as far as can be made out from the Court- 
Francis Barroby. 
William Martin. 

A blank, rolls lost. 
Thomas Whytehead, Gent. 
William Whytehead, Gent. 
William Wailes, Gent. 
John Wailes, Gent. 
Peter Bigg-, Gent. 
William Walker, Gent. 
Charles Bissett Walker, Gent. 
Thomas Swarbreck, Gent., present 
Steward. 



rolls — none mentioned before 16.26. 




1626. 


Galfrid Adamson, Gent. 


1723. 





William Phillips, Ar. deput. 


1726. 


1630. 


Thomas Procter, Ar. Sen. 




1632. 


William Bransbie, Gent. 


1739. 


1633. 


Mark Metcalfe, Ar. 


1765. 


1635. 


William Dunning. 


1771. 


1637. 


Mark Metcalfe, Ar. 


1797. 


1638. 


First vol. of Court-rolls ends. 


1801. 




A blank, rolls lost. 


1818. 


1715. 


Ralph Bell, Sen. 


1819. 


17 L7. 


Christ. Driffield. 


1828. 


1718. 


Ralph Bell. 





TIIIRSK. 101 

strength, or a place of trade, as it was guarded with the liberties 
and privileges granted by princes, then altogether necessary to the 
advantage of buying, selling, and trading, by which tradesmen 
quietly and without disturbance enjoy the benefit of it. Burghs 
might truly be called places of safety, protection, and privilege."* 

" Which liberty granted to the burghs and burgesses, was a 
freedom to buy and sell freely without disturbance ; a liberty from 
paying toll, pontage, passage money, lestage, stallage, &c, in the 
mercates and fairs of these burghs, and in coming to and going 
from them, and for these things the burghs were called free burghs, 
and the inhabitants free burgesses."t 

" By understanding wherein their liberty consisted, we come to 
know what men the burgesses were, to wit, buyers and sellers, 
ordinary and common tradesmen (then called merchants), such as 
are commonly found in ordinary inland burghs and mercate towns, 
such as frequented fairs and markets."! 

That Thirsk was such a burgh, or borough, and enjoyed such 
privileges in very early times, we have direct evidence in the 
charter granted by Roger de Mowbray to the priory of Newburgh 
in 1145 ; wherein he grants to the canons of that house, "and 
their tenants who live in the borough, all the liberties and ease- 
ments which my burgesses have in the said borough, of buying 
and selling in the market and out of the market, without paying 
toll or stallage." 

Thirsk was first summoned to send burgesses to parliament in 
the 23rd of Edward L, A.D. 1294. This privilege was at that 
time considered rather a burden than an advantage, as the towns 
which sent them were obliged to maintain their representatives ; 
and the latter had to give sureties for their attendance before the 
king and parliament. The representatives consisted of men who 
were real burgesses of the place for which they were sent ; the 
sheriff, when he found no person of abilities or wealth sufficient 
for the office, often used the freedom of omitting particular boroughs 
in his returns. Thirsk appears to have been in this latter class, 

» Brady on Burghs., f. 3. + Ibid, f. 19. i Ibid. 



102 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

until the year 1553, when it was again summoned and returned 
two members, which it continued to do until the passing of the 
Reform Act in 1832 ; since which time it has only returned one. 
The following is the most correct list of the members of par- 
liament for the borough, which we have been able to obtain. Our 
chief authorities being " Smith's Parliaments of England," and 
" The Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire." 

EDWARD VI. 

1553. Thomas Legh. Reginald Beseley. 

MARY. 

1553. Thomas Eynes. John Gascoine. 

1554. Reginald Beseley. Thomas Waterton. 

PHILIP AND MARY. 

1555. Christopher Lascells.* Robert Rose. 
1557. Christopher Lascells. Thomas Eynes. f 

ELIZABETH. 

1563. Christopher Lascells. J Thomas Amys. 

1571. John Dawney. § John Leighton. 

1572. John Dawney. Edward Gates.^f 

* The family of Lascells resided at Breckenbrough Castle, and had considerable 
property in the neighbourhood of Thirsk. 

f In 1558, Thomas Eynes, burgess of Thirsk, complained to the House of Commons 
that, while in attendance as a member, a subpoena had been delivered to him to ap- 
pear in Chancery, and that if engaged in a Chancery suit he could not discharge his 
duty as a representative of the people. The House in great indignation, immediately 
ordered Sir Clement Higham and the Recorder of London to go to the Lord Chan- 
cellor, and require that the process should be revoked. — Par. Hist. 630. 

% During this parliament a law was made against conjurations, enchantments, and 
witchcraft, in which it was enacted — " that if any person or persons after the first 
day of June next commyng, shal use, practise, or exercise, any invocations, or con- 
jugations of evil, or wicked spirits, to, or for anie intent or purpose, or practise any 
witchcraft, enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby anie person shall happen to be 
killed or destroied ; being of the sayde offences lawfully convicted and attainted, 
shall suffer pains of death as a felon or felons, and shall lose the privilege and benefit 
of clergy and sanctuary." 

This specimen of the legislative wisdom of our ancestors is enough to shew the 
spirit of the age. 

\ Of the family of Dawney of Sessay, Cowick, and Beninbrough, ancestors of the 
Lord Viscount Downe of Newby Park. This John Dawney was high sheriff of 
Yorkshire in 1572. 

II The family of Gates were owners of considerable estates at Seamer, near 
Scarborough, and resided at the Hall there. They often represented the borough of 
Scarborough in parliament. 



THIRSK. 103 

1585. John Dawney. Robert Bowes. 

1586. John Dawney. Henry Bellasis.* 
1588. John Dawney. Robert Bellasis. 
1592. John Dawney. Robert Bellasis. 
1597. George Lister. Thomas Bellasis. 
1601. Henry Bellasis. f John Mallory. J 

JAMES I. 

1603. Edward Swift, Knt. Timothy Whittingham. 

1614. John Gibb. Henry Bellasis. 

1620. Thomas Bellasis, Knt.§ John Bellasis, Knt.^[ 

* The family of Bellasis, of Henknowle in the county of Durham, and of Newburgh 
Park, Yorkshire, has given many representatives to the borough of Thirsk. 

Tew families, if any, of our British nobles can 

" Boast a longer line, 
Where time through heroes and through beauties steers," 
Than that of the great house of Bellasyese. They deduce a genealogy from Belasius 
who commanded a division of the army of William the Conqueror at the battle of 
Hastings. He had issue, Rowland, who married Elgiva, daughter and heiress of 
Ralph de Belasyse of Belasyse, and who in right of his wife assumed the name of 
Rowland Belasius Belasyse. His great grandson was 

Sir Rowland Belasyse, who attained " his spurs" so gallantly at the battle of Lewes 
48th Henry III. For further particulars of the pedigree of this family, see Upper 
Silton. 

+ Of Newburgh Park, he was high sheriff of Yorkshire in 1603, and received the 
honour of knighthood from King James I. at York, on his Majesty 's journey to London, 
April 17th, 1603. He was created a baronet on the first institution of the order, 
June 29th, 1611. His wife was Ursula, daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton. 
He erected his tomb in his life time in York Minster, with the effigies of himself and 
his lady, his son and two daughters. 

t Of Studley Royal, near Ripon. 

\ Created lord Fauconberg, and baron of Yarm, 3rd of Charles I., afterwards 
viscount Fauconberg of Henknowle. He zealously supported the cause of Charles I., 
and was present at the seige of York, and battle of Marston Moor, after the ruin of 
the royal cause by that signal defeat, he fled to the continent along with the earl of 
Newcastle and others. He died 1652. 

TT The hon'ble John Belasyse, second son of Thomas, first viscount Fauconberg, 
having distinguished himself as one of the commanders of the royal army, during the 
civil wars, was elevated to the peerage 20th Charles I. At the commencement of the 
rebellion he arrayed two regiments of cavalry, and four regiments of infantry under 
the royal banner. He was appointed by the king governor of York, and on the 11th 
of May, 1644, he lay in the town of Selby with a force of two thousand men, where he 
was attacked by the parliamentarians under Sir Thomas Fairfax, when his force was 
defeated and himself taken prisoner. H e had command both at the battles of Newbury 
and Naseby, as well as at the sieges of Reading and Bristol. He was promoted to the 
rank of lieutenant-general, and appointed commander of the forces in Lincolnshire, 
Notts., Debyshire, and the county of Rutland ; and immediately afterwards governor 
of Newark, which he defended against the English and Scottish armies, until com- 
manded to surrender it by the king. His majesty then appointed him to the com- 



104 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

1623. Thomas Bellasis, Knt. William Sheffield, Knt.* 

1628. Christopher Wandesford.f William Frankland.J 

1640. William Frankland. Henry Bellasis. 

1640. John Bellasis. Thomas Ingram, Knt. || 

1645. Thomas Lassels. § William Ayscough.^" 

1653. No memhers returned for the borough.* * 

1654. No return, the county of York sent fourteen members, the 

smaller boroughs none. 

mand of the royal body-guard of horse. In all these arduous services the General 
Belasyse distinguished himself by courage and conduct; he was frequently wounded, 
and thrice imprisoned in the tower of London. 

At the restoration his lordship was made lord-lieutenant of the East Riding of the 
county of York, governor of Hull, general of his majesty's forces in Africa, and 
governor of Tangier, also captain of the king's guard of gentlemen pensioners. 

In the reign of James II., lord Belasyse was made first lord of the treasury— died 
in 1689. 

* Fourth son of Edmund lord Sheffield of Butterwick, lord president of the North. 
He was drowned by accident in France ; and by a singular fatality two of his brothers, 
Edmund and Philip were drowned in crossing the river Humber at Whitgift Ferry, 
in the month of December, 1614 ; and another brother George, broke his neck in a 
new riding house, which his father had made out of an old consecrated chapel. 

t Of Kirklington, near Ripon ; he was related to Wentworth earl of Strafford, and 
was gained over by the court party along with that nobleman. Howell, writing to 
the countess of Sunderland, August 5th, 1628, says, "Sir Thomas Wentworth and 
Mr. Wandesford, are grown great courtiers lately, and come from Westminster to 
Whitehall, (Sir John Savill their countryman having shewn them the way with his 
white staff). The lord Treasurer Weston, tampered with the one, and my lord 
Cottington took pains with the other to bring them about from their violence against 
the prerogative. I am told the first of them is promised my lord's place at York, in 
case his sickness continues." W T andesford accompanied his ill fated patron, 
"Wentworth, to Ireland, where his promotion was rapid : in 1633, he was appointed 
master of the rolls, at the same time being sworn of the privy council ; of this office, 
he had soon after a grant for life. He was one of the lord's justices in 1636, and 
1639, and April 1st, 1640, was appointed lord deputy; but the death of his friend 
lord Strafford had so deep an effect upon him thai he died Dec. 3rd, of the same year. 

t Of Thirkleby park, near Thirsk. He was created a baronet in 1660, in the 
life time of his father. 

I This was the famous long parliament, which met Nov. 3rd, 1640, and sat during 
the whole period of the civil war; which saw the ruin of the monarchy, the king 
beheaded, and a commonwealth established. The members were finally expelled by 
Cromwell, April 10th, 1653. 

|| This election was to supply the places of Bellasis and Ingram, who were disabled 
by the judgment of the house to sit in this parliament. 

II Of Osgodby, near Thirsk, he was an active magistrate, and had much influence 
in Thirsk during the commonwealth. 

** This was the first parliament of Cromwell, commonly known as Barebone's 
parliament. 



thirsk. IQo 

1656. No return. This parliament offered the crown to Cromwell. 
1658. Colonel Thomas Talbot.* Major General Goodricke-t 
CHARLES II. 

1660. Charles Earl of Ancram. Barrington Bouchier.J 

1661. Barrington Bouchier. Thomas Harrison. 

1677. Sir William Wentworth. Robert "Wharton. § 

1678. Sir William Frankland, Bart. Nicholas Saimderson. 

1679. The same. 

1681 . Sir William Frankland, Bart. Sir William Askew, Knt. 

JAMES II. 

1685. Sir Hugh Cholmley, Bart. || Thomas Frankland.^]" 

1688. Thomas Frankland. Richard Staines. 

WILLIAM III. 

1690. Thomas Frankland. Richard Staines. 

1695. Richard Staines. Sir Godfrey Copley, Bart.** 

1698. Sir Godfrey Copley, Bart. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. 

1700. The same. 

1701. The same. 

* The family of Talbot resided at Wood End, in the parish of Thornton-le-street, 
near Thirsk, and appears to have become extinct about the beginning- of the present 
century. 

t Of Ribston Park, near Knaresborough. During the civil -wars he zealously 
espoused the cause of the king, and was a great sufferer for his loyalty. He was 
taken prisoner, and first confined at Manchester, and then at London in the Tower ; 
from whence he escaped into France, where he continued to reside until the death 
of Cromwell. His death took place in 1670. 

$ Of Benninbrough, near York. He was high sheriff of Yorkshire in 1658. 

§ A double return, Wentworth seated on petition. 

|| Of Whitby : he was appointed by Charles II. governor of Tangier in Africa, 
where he resided many years, and had the direction of building the mole there. He 
died in 1688. 

TT Of Thirkleby : son and heir of sir William Frankland Bart. He married the 
youngest daughter of sir John .Russell, by Frances, the lord protector Cromwell's 
youngest daughter. 

** Of Sprotborough, a place of which the old proverb sayeth, 
He who is hungry and listeth to eat, 
Let him come to Sprotbro' to his meat, 
And for a year and for a day, 
His horse shall have both corn and hay, 
And none shall ask when he goeth away. 
Sir Godfrey represented this borough in eight parliaments, and died in 1709. 



106 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

ANNE. 

1702. The same. 

1705. The same. 

1709. Vice Copley deceased. Leonard Smelt, Junr. 

1710. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. Ralph Bell.* 

1711. Thomas Worsley.f 

1713. Ralph Bell. Thomas Worsley. 

GEORGE I. 

1715. Ralph Bell. Thomas Frankland.J 

1717. Thoma; Pitt.§ 

1722. Thomas Frankland. Sir William St. Qnintin, Bart|| 

1724. Thomas Frankland.^ 

1727. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. Thomas Robinson. 

GEORGE II. 

1728. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.** 
1730. The same.ft 

1734. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. Frederick Frankland. 

1741. The same. 

1747. Capt. Thomas Frankland, R.N.fJ 

1 749. Hon'ble William Monckton.|| || 

* Of the Hall, Thirsk: he purchased the manor of Thirsk from the Earl of Derby, 
and represented this borough in parliament four years. 

+ Of Hovingham. He died in 1715. There is a fine monument in Hovingham 
church to his memory. This election was to supply the place of Sir Thomas Frank- 
land, Bart., appointed Postmaster General. 

t Eldest son of the above Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. He succeeded to the bar- 
onetcy on his father's death in 1726. 

\ This election was to supply the place of Ralph Bell, appointed one of the Cus- 
tomers of the port of Hull. 

|| Of Harpham in Yorkshire. He was high sheriff of the county in 1730, and died 
in 1771. 

IT Re-elected on his being appointed a Commissioner of Revenue in Ireland. 

** Re-elected on being appointed a Commissioner of Trade and Plantations. 

+t Re-elected on being appointed a Lord of the Admiralty. 

it Vice Sir Thomas Frankland deceased. Captain Frankland distinguished himself 
in the naval service, and captured a French ship of great value off the Havannah, af- 
ter an engagement of several hours. He subsequently rose to be Vice Admiral of the 
red squadron, and was afterwards an Admiral of the white. Died Nov. 2lst, 1784. 

|||| Vice Frederick Frankland, appointed a Commissioner of Revenue in Ireland. 
Mr. Monckton was of Fryston Hall, near Ferrybridge, and was before in this parlia- 
ment for Pontefract. 



TIIIRSK. 107 

17o4. Capt. Thomas Frankland, R.N. Roger Talbot* 

GEORGE III. 

1761. Vice. Admiral Thomas Frankland. Hon. Henry Grenville. 

1765. James Grenville. f 

1768. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. William Frankland. 

1774. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. Thomas Frankland.f 

1780. Sir Thomas Gascoigne.§ Beilby Thompson. || 

1784. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. Sir G.Page Turner, Bart.^f 

1784. Robert Vyner.** 

1790. Sir Gregory Page Turner, Bart. Robert Vyner. 

1796. Sir G. P. Turner, Bart. Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart.ft 

1801. William Frankland.JJ 

1802. Sir G. P. Turner, Bart. William Frankland. 

1805. Hon. Richard G. Neville.§ § 

1806. James Topping. Robert Greenhill.|| || 

1807. Robert GreenhilL William Frankland. 



• Of Wood End, near Thirsk. He died in 1777. There is a monument to his 
memory in the church of Thornton-le-street. 

f Vice Hon. H. Grenville, appointed a Commissioner of Customs. 

t Afterwards Sir Thomas Frankland, sixth Baronet, born 1750. 

I Of Parlington, near Aberford. He died in 1810. 

|| Of Escrick Park, near York. He died in 1799. There is a handsome monument 
to his memory in Escrick church. 

*T Of Battlesden in the county of Bedford. He represented this borough in four 
parliaments. He was in nowise connected with the Yorkshire ilk of that name, of 
Kirkleatham in Cleveland, but descended from a southern lineage. He was born 
Feb. 16th, 1748, and assumed the surname and arms of Page, in addition to those of 
his own family, upon succeeding to the fortune of his great uncle Sir Gregory Page, 
Bart., of Wricklemarsh, co. Kent. He married 1785, Fanny, daughter of Joseph 
Howell, Esq., by whom he had three sons and one daughter. Sir Gregory died in 
Portland Place, London, Jan. 4th, 1805. 

The Turners are descended from an opulent merchant of London, who amassed a 
large fortune, on which account he was created a baronet. Ketiring from business 
he purchased extensive estates in Kent, and at Battlesden Park, Bedfordshire, the 
present seat of the family. 

** Vice Frankland deceased. 

■f-r He was high sheriff of Yorkshire in 1792. 

XX Vice Sir Robert Frankland resigned. 

\\ Vice Turner deceased. 

|| || Of Checquers Court, Buckinghamshire. In 1815 he assumed by sign manual the 
surname and arms of Russell. He was created a baronet Sept. 15th, 1831. He was 
brought up to the bar, and represented this borough from 1806 till the passing of the 
Reform Bill in 1832. He died unmarried Dec. 12th, 1836, when the baronetcy ex- 
pired, and his estates devolved, under his will, on his kinsman Sir Robt. Frankland, 
Bart., of Thirkleby, who afterwards assumed the additional surname of Kussell. 



108 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

1812. The same. 

1815. Robert Frankland.* 

1818. Robert Greenhill Russell. Robert Frankland. 

GEORGE IY. 

1820. The same. 
1826. The same. 

WILLIAM IY. 

1830. The same. 

1831. Robert Greenhill Russell. Sir R. Frankland, Bart. 

1832. Sir Robert Frankland, Bart.f 

1834. Samuel Crompton.J 

1835. The same. 

VICTORIA. 

1837. Sir Samuel Crompton, Bart.§ 

1841. JohnBell.H 

1847. The same. 

1851. Sir William Payne Galwey, Bart.^f 

* Yice William Frankland resigned. The late Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart. 
He was born in 1784, and married Louisa Anne, third daughter of the late Right 
Hon'ble and Right Rev. Lord George Murray, Bishop of St. David's. He succeeded 
to the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1831. He was hign sheriff of York- 
shire in 1838, and died in March, 1849. 

+ This was the first parliament after the passing of the Reform Bill, by which 
Thirsk lost one of its representatives. 

t Yice Frankland resigned. 

$ Of Wood End, near Thirsk. He was son of Samuel Crompton, Esq., Mayor of 
Derby in 1782 and 1788, by Sarah daughter of Samuel Fox, Esq., of the same town. 
He represented East Retford in the house of Commons from 1818 till 1826, the year 
before that borough was disfranchised ; and then was elected member for Derby. In 
1834 he was elected for Thirsk, which he continued to represent until 1841, when he 
retired from parliament. In politics he was a moderate reformer : he voted for the 
original motion of reform in parliament, and afterwards supported Lord Melbourne's 
ministry; but he was opposed to voting by ballot, and the shortening of parliaments. 
In 1836 he was advanced to a baronetcy, which, on his dying without male issue, be- 
came extinct. He died at Wood End Dec. 27th, 1849, aged 63 years. 

II Of the Hall, Thirsk. He was great grandson of Ralph Bell, who represented the 
borough in the last parliament of queen Anne and the first of George I. He was 
born August 11th, 1809, and died March 5th, 1851. He was a moderate liberal and 
supporter of Lord Melbourne's and Lord John Russell's cabinets. 

IT Vice Bell deceased. Sir William P. Galwey, Bart., the present member for the 
borough, is a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for the North-riding of Yorkshire, 
and late a major in the 88th regiment. He was born in 1800, and married in 1847, 
the third daughter of the late Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart , of Thirkleby 



THIRSK. 109 

1852. The same. 
1857. The same. 

"What the number of electors or free burgesses was when the 
town was summoned to return representatives in 1553, we know 
not. In 1623 the number of Free Burgesses inscribed on the 
court-rolls of the manor, is 19 : we give their names below.* In 
the year 1626 they are 34, and in 1637 only 22. Amongst them 
are sometimes entered the names of persons living in Bagby and 
other places, and the numbers are continually varying, never 
above two years alike. Previous to the passing of the Reform 
Bill in 1832, the right of electing members of parliament was 
vested in the occupiers of fifty-two burgage houses situate in Old 
Thirsk, of which number forty-nine belonged to the Franklands of 
Thirkleby, who had thus the power of returning both representa- 
tives. Since 1832 the 10/. householders have enjoyed the privilege 
of voting, and the boundaries of the borough were greatly enlarged 
so as to include the whole town of Thirsk, and the townships or 
villages of Sowerby, Carlton Miniott, Sand Hutton, South Kil- 
vington, and Bagby : extending over an area of 8750 acres. By 
Lord John Russell's abortive Reform Bill it was proposed to 
attach the town of Easingwold to the borough of Thirsk. 

The returning officer is the Borough Bailiff, who is chosen by 
the inhabitants, and sworn in at the Court Leet of the lord of the 
Manor. 

The number on the register entitled to vote at the first election 
after the enfranchisement of the town, was 254 ; in 1835, 262 ; in 
1837, 283; on the election of John Bell, Esq., in 1841, it was 327; 
in 1847, 331 ; in 1851, it had decreased to 255. In 1857 there 
were 357 names on the register; shewing an increase of 103 

Park. He is a staunch conservative, and voted against Mr. Locke King's motion in 
1857, and against the Maynooth Grant : he supported Mr. Cobden's resolution on 
the China question, which brought on the general election in March, 1857. 

* Timo. Whittingham, Mil. Tho. Beckwith, Gent. Joh'es Wright, Gent. Lane. 
Belte, Gent. Hered Milo Danbye. Will's Carter. Joh'es Carter. Bartho. Ander- 
son. Ric'us Phipps. Will's Bell. Joh'es Hauforth. X'porus Lumley. Ric'us 
Bell. Radus Bell. Roy Raper. Tho. Barton. Radus Hunton. Radus Almond. 
Vy. Bickers. 



110 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

electors in twenty-four years ; and proving that, though the con- 
stituency be small, Thirsk is not among the number of decaying 
boroughs. During the same time, from different causes, property 
has greatly increased in value, and many new houses have been 
built, especially in Sowerby. 



SURVEY OF THE TOWN. 



The town of Thirsk consists of two squares, the Market Place, 
and St. James' Green and about half a dozen principal streets. 
The entrance from the Railway Station, and the towns of Ripon 
and Boroughbridge is on the west, through a crooked street called 
Castlegate, so named from its passing along the southern end of 
the site of the castle. The principal remnant of this fortress is the 
moat, which has evidently been both wide and deep, and the earth 
taken out of it appears to have been thrown inwards, and yet 
forms a ridge in what has been the outer court, or baily. The 
space inclosed by this moat is somewhat of a square form, and is 
said to contain four acres of ground: the eastern side is occupied 
by the houses of the town ; the northern appears to have extended 
towards the stables of the hall, and partly under the town, the 
west side and part of the south are yet open and can be easily 
traced. The north eastern portion of this area was occupied by the 
keep and principal buildings of the castle, which were also sur- 
rounded by a moat deeper and wider than the outer one, part of 
which contained water within the memory of persons yet alive. 
This inner part is much higher than the outer one, shewing that 
the soil of this moat had also been thrown inwards, and formed a 
kind of mount on which the castle stood. This eminence is now 
occupied by gardens, the soil of which bears no indication of mix- 
ture with the lime and rubbish of a ruined stone building ; and 
what is stranger still no stones, or relics of any kind have been dug 
up, as would certainly have been the case, had a building of 
masonry stood on the spot. In digging a drain some years ago 



THIKSK. Ill 

across that part of the castle garth now in grass, nothing remark- 
able -was found excepting a brooch or toga pin. We may therefore 
suppose, without any material circumstances opposing our con- 
jecture, that the castle of Thirsk was buiit of timber, and that the 
oak trees of the Yale of Mowbray supplied the massiye beams. 
From the situation it could never be intended for a place of per- 
manent defence, or to resist a siege, as the country around was 
level up to the works of the castle, and was quite unlike the places 
chosen by the Norman barons on which to erect their principal 
strongholds, which when inland, were generally placed at the 
turning points of rivers and streams, where bent from their course 
by an insulated rock or sudden rise of the land. Knaresbrough and 
Richmond castles are examples. The large house of the Percies 
at Leckonfield, as we learn from old Leland, was chiefly of timber. 
The manor house at Topcliffe belonging to the same family was 
probably of the same material. 

In making a drain along Kirkgate, for the sewerage of the town, 
in I806, the moat of the castle was dug into, and found to have 
been originally sixteen feet deep, now entirely filled with fine black 
mould ; two pieces of oak timber, perfectly sound and black as jet, 
were found along with a small horse shoe, of a peculiar make, and 
quite free from rust. 

The rows of new and elegant houses on the right of this street 
are in the township of Sower by, and have been erected by " The 
Thirsk Building Society," within the last fifteen years. They are 
a great improvement to this part of the town, and appear to com- 
bine comfort and convenience. The rural police station is in this 
street, as is also the Mechanics' Institute, a large and elegant 
brick building, the property of Sir William Payne Galwey, Bart., 
M.P. At the turn of the corner are the public rooms and savings' 
bank, located in a handsome building of white brick ; near which 
is the Primitive Methodist chapel. 

The school in the Castle Garth, was formerly under the care of 
the Rev. Daniel Addison, incumbent of Thirsk, and was then an 
academy of considerable note, where the " Society for the educa- 
tion of clergymen's orphan children " were accustomed to place all 



112 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

their boys, so that at times as many as one hundred and fifty 
young gentlemen from different parts of the country were instructed 
here. Part of the building is now a charity school for the educa- 
tion of girls. 

The short street leading from the end of Castlegate into the 
market place bears the name of Westgate.* 

The market place is a spacious square, level, and well adapted 
for the purpose. The houses and shops around are tolerably well 
built, yet none of them have any great pretensions to elegance ; a 
few have the air of antiquity, yet none are probably older than the 
age of Elizabeth. On the northern side yet remains a cluster of 
old buildings, which Hutton, in 1818, described as "rubbish sur- 
rounded by beauty." they form an unsightly object and mar the 
symmetry of the square. A long range of ruinous looking butchers' 
shambles,! deformed the centre of the area until the month of 
August, 1857, when they were removed by the lord of the manor 
at the request of a number of the inhabitants ; he also paved at his 
own cost all the southern side of the square. 

The market cross is a ruined, time-worn, broken shaft, standing 
on an ascent of four dilapidated steps.J In 1821, "the shaft was 
nine feet in height, and bore on the cornice of its capital, four dials 
facing the four cardinal points of the horizon." § 

* The term gate is not used in its modern sense, but derived from the old Scandi- 
navian " gata," a street, way, or road. 

f The old oak from the shambles was formed into three antique chairs, by Mr. 
Coulson, a noted turner of this town ; they are in possession of Mr. Bell, Capt. Turton, 
and Mr. T. Swarbreck. 

t Jan. 19th, 1629, the following entry appears in the court-rolls of the manor re- 
lative to the repair of the market cross. 

"A payne laid that Mrs. Anne Belte, fermor of the Tolles at Thirsk, shall repair 
the Cornehill and the Markett Crosse before the feast of the Annunc'on of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary next comming upon payne to forfeit xxxixs. xid." 

" A payne laid that the said fermor of the Tolls doe dense and make cleane the 
Market place at Thirske, weekly before Wednesday at night after this weeke, upon 
payne to forfeit for ev'y default iiis. iiiid." 

The above paynes appear to have had no effect upon Mrs. Anne Belte, (widow of 
Launcelot Belte, gent, a free burgess of the town), for April 5th, 1630, we find the 
following amerciament recorded against her. 

" The juratores p'sent Anna Belt, Yid. quia non Reparu granu monti. Anglice the 
Cornhill et Crux fori, and she is amercd, xxxixs. xid." A note adds, "Disss, to stay 
till Midsom. next and then to pass if it be not then done." 
§ Jefferson's Thirsk, p. 39. 



THIF-SK. 113 

The site of the Tollbooth is yet marked by the remains of its floor. 
The courts for the manor of Thirsk were formerly held within it, 
and the public business of the town generally transacted there. 
It was burned down by accident or design, in 1834, along with the 
establishment of a travelling mountebank or showman ; and never 
afterwards rebuilt. 

A circle in the pavement near the cross, yet marks the place 
where the bull baitings were held : the ring was taken up about 
twenty years ago ; before its removal a custom prevailed amongst 
the youths of the town, when any of them had completed his term 
of apprenticeship, to meet together at midnight, and drink to each 
other with the arm holding the drinking glass through the ring. 
The bull baitings have been so long discontinued as to be only 
matter of tradition, the oldest inhabitant having no recollection of 
such an event. At no remote period, however, no butcher was 
allowed to kill a bull and expose his flesh for sale in the market 
without having first baited him.* 

On the south side of the Market Place are the " Golden Fleece" 
and " The Three Tuns " hotels, good and comfortable places for rest 
and refection, but not quite so busy as formerly when the " Royal 
Mail," "Highflyer," "Wellington," and "Expedition" coaches rat- 
tled over the pavements before their doors. The " Three Tuns " 
was originally built as a " dowager house" for the family of Bell. 

At the south-east corner of the market place is the Post Office, 
Mr. Richard Barley postmaster.*)- 

* The following- order occurs in the court-rolls in 1740. "Item. That if any 
person do kill a bull and expose the flesh thereof for sale in the market, without first 
baiting such bull in the market place, shall forfeit for every time offending 65. 8d." 

The above order is repeated in 1747, and again in 1754 for the last time. Many 
parties were fined for not obeying. In 1739, Thomas Sampson of North Kilvington, 
was presented by the jury " for exposing to sale and selling bull's flesh in this market, 
not having first baited, 3s. 4d." " John Williamson of Sutton, for the like, 3s. 4d." 
*' Christopher Bell of Bauk, for the like, 3s. 4d." 

" In 1741, William Tweedy, for the like, 3s. Ad. Henry Kidsdale of Sowerby, for 
the like, 3s. Ad. Jonas Wass of the same place, 3s. Ad., and Henry Manfield of 
Islebeck, for the like, 3s. 4d." 

" In 1744, Henry Ridsdale, Michael Gilbert, William Tweedy, Tindall Crossley, 
and George Stephenson, are ' in mercy,' 3s. Ad. each for the like offence." 

t The staff of this office consists of a postmaster and clerk, (which last delivers the 
letters in the town), three receiving houses, one at Sowerby, one at Topcliffe, and 

I 



114 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Finkle Street* leads from the market place to the bridge across 
the river Codbeck. On the right hand almost close to the river is 
a large house, (now divided into two tenements) in which formerly 
resided the widow of the Rev. John Knowsley, M.A., and her 
three daughters, with whom lodged for awhile the eccentric Mrs. 
Margaret Wharton, alias Peg Pennyworth. f On the opposite 
side of the street is the office of the Registrar of the Thirsk district, 
and the large new Chapel and School of the Independents. A 
peep over the battlements of the bridge reveals the wharf and 
mooring rings of the intended Thirsk navigation. 

another at Maunby ; and six rural messengers respectively — for Kirby Knowle — 
Borrowby — Newby Wiske — Pickhill— Dishforth and Dal ton. The number received 
for the week ending December 21st, 1857, was letters 4293 ; newspapers, stamp 
attached, 307 — stamp impressed, 1005, total 5605. 

* This name, derived by Hargrove, Hist, of Knaresborough, from Vincle, Danish, 
an angle or corner, is common to many places in the North of England, and occurs 
in the following Yorkshire towns, Ripon, Knaresborough, Richmond, Bedale, Selby, 
H ull, and Wortley, near Sheffield. 

t Hutton in his Trip to Coatham, gives some amusing anecdotes of this singular 
lady. She is yet remembered by persons in the neighbourhood of Thirsk, and the Rev. 
Francis Henson, rector of Kilvington, is possessed of a massive gold ring, and a gold 
headed cane which formerly belonged to her. She is said to have possessed a fortune 
of 200,000Z., and she made her nephew a present of 100,000Z. Though she resided in 
York, she visited Scarborough in the season, and from frequently sending for a 
pennyworth of strawberries, and a pennyworth of cream, she obtained the name of 
Peg Pennyworth, which never forsook her. 

Her charities were boundless, but always private, nothing hurt her so much as to 
have them divulged. If any did proclaim them she withdrew her benevolence. The 
celebrated Foote drew her character in a farce called " Peg Pennyworth." When 
informed of this circumstance she exclaimed with a smile, " I will see it acted as I 
live." She did, and declared with joy that they had done her justice. A gentleman 
took her in his arms before the whole audience, and said, " This is the greatest 
fortune in Yorkshire," which delighted her more. 

Her introduction to Thirsk is thus related by the same author. " A clergyman's 
wife having kept up a visiting connexion in York, the clergyman dying, and leaving 
the lady in affluence, she retired to Thirsk with her daughters, and solicited Peg to 
pay her a visit. Peg cousented, took her carriage and servants. After some time 
the lady began to think the visit rather protracted, particularly as she had a family 
of her own to provide for ; but Peg thought that treating the young ladies with a 
frequent airing in the carriage was an ample recompense. 

A growing discontent cannot be smothered ; the lady could neither find a remedy 
nor complain. At length she ventured to hint to Mr. Wharton that the pressure 
was great. " Be silent, madam," said he, "let my aunt have her own way. I will pay 
you 200Z. a year during her life and 100Z. during your own should you survive her.'' 
Peg ended her days with this lady, and I believe the 100Z a year is paid to this day. 

Report says she died at the age of 103, and was buried at Skelton. In the pedigree 
of the Whartons, given in Graves' Cleveland, p. 359., she is said to have been " bapt. 
at Low Layton, Co. Essex, 24th April, 1697, died 1788." 



TELIRSK. 115 

The sewage of the town here discharges itself into the river by 
a drain two feet six inches in diameter, which was cut in the 
autumn of 1856, at a cost of 260/. ; it passes along Finkle Street, 
across the Market Place, and up Kirkgate, nearly to the church ; 
the greatest depth is fourteen and a half feet. During the exca- 
vation horns of cows, and bones of animals were dug up, the moat 
of the castle was cut through in Kirkgate, when the pieces of 
timber and horse shoe already mentioned were found, but nothing 
else of importance. 

Ingranigate* is properly speaking only a continuation of Finkle 
Street. The large white house on the left hand, almost close to the 
river is Ingram House, the property of Lady Frankland Russell, 
of Thirkleby. For many years it was the favourite residence of 
Lady Johnston of Hackness, near Scarborough, who died here 
more than eighty years of age. It was then leased to the present 
occupier Major Sanders, K.G.S. and K.F. He is the represent- 
ative of the Sanderses of Sanderstead and East Grinstead, in direct 
descent from Sir Roger de Sanderstead. The gallant Major has 
seen much service in the south of Spain ; he was many years in the 
Austrian service, and held a distinguished military appointment 
about the court of Vienna. He married Jane, sister and coheiress 
of the late John Bell, Esq., M.P., and aunt of Frederick Bell, Esq. 
of the hall. 

In this house amongst other paintings, is a fine cabinet picture 
by Rubens, of the daughter of Herodias with the head of John the 
Baptist in a charger. This picture is from the collection of the 
late king of Bavaria. " Tancred wounded," " The Bubble Blowers" 
by Robert Heck of Stuttgart. An old painting of the Nativity 
from the church of Santa Croce at Florence, very curious. Of the 
portraits, there are three by Jamison, the pupil, and known as the 
Scotch Vandyke. One of Charles L, and two family portraits of 
Chief Justice Hobert of the Common Pleas, and Henry Howard 
Sanders, Clerk of the Star Chamber. 

Portrait of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, by "Knobler." 

* In 1624, the name of this street was Ingberrygate. 



116 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

A curious portrait of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, after- 
wards Emperor of Germany during the thirty years war. It was 
painted when he was only six weeks old, bearing date and stating 
the fact ; he is represented in swaddling clothes, lying on a pillow 
with a jewelled cross and chain. 

Portrait of Madam'lle de Montpensier, by Mignard. 

Portrait of Lewis XV., by Van Loe, with many others, historical 
and family. There are also some Sheep painted by Bartholomew 
Smith, the self-taught artist, a native and resident of Thirsk. It 
is a picture of considerable merit, and might pass for an early pro- 
duction of Verbeckhoven. 

In the library is a curious old oak cabinet of the time of Edw. II. 

At the end of this street the roads from York, Helmsley and 
Yarm form a junction, the direct road leads to Helmsley. At the 
left hand corner is situate the Workhouse for the Thirsk Union, a 
large brick building. 

The road to York turns to the right along Barbeck,* where the 
Society of Friends has a burial ground. At the end of this street 
stood a small chapel, dedicated to St. Giles, at what time, or by 
whom founded we know not. We find it first mentioned in a 
licence granted by William, Archbishop of York, June 3rd, 1345, 
to the inhabitants of Bagby to bury their dead in their own chapel 
yard, and have divine service performed in their own chapel ; the 
chaplain was also to say mass two days in the week (on Monday 
and Friday) " in the chapel of St. Giles, in Brynkellhow gate in 
the town of Thirsk." From which we might infer that the in- 
habitant of Bagby had previously been accustomed to worship in 
this chapel. The next time we find it mentioned is by John Foxe 
in his "Actes and Monuments," when relating the troubles of 
" the poor sely hermit" Parkinson, who " was a hermit or peni- 
tentiary at Thirsk, and kept the chapel of St. Giles at the end of 
the town of Thirsk." This was about the year 1464, and we find 
no further mention of the chapel : probably it was swept away at 
the reformation. A small enclosure on the right of the road 

* From " beck," a brook, which here crosses the road, and " bar," a gate or fence. 



THIRSK. 117 

leading to York, yet bears the name of " the Chapel Hill close," 
and this alone seems to indicate the place where it stood, as not a 
fragment of the building or a trace of the foundation remains. 

The Long Street, formerly called Micklcgate,* leads northward 
from the ends of Barbeck and Ingramgate on the road to Yarni ; 
this is the largest street in the town, being five hundred yards in 
length and of ample breadth. Here are situate the British and 
Foreign School and the Gas Works. 

Turning past the old Poorhouse, we reach St. James' Green, a 
wide, and open square, little inferior to the market place in size. 
Here the cattle fairs are held. On the eastern side stands the 
Wesleyan Chapel. Around this area are some of the oldest houses 
in the town, though probably none of them are three hundred 
years old. This green derives its name from a chapel formerly 
standing here, dedicated to St. James. The exact time of the 
foundation of this chapel does not appear to be known. It existed 
in 1145, when it was given by Roger de Mowbray to the canons 
of Newburgh Priory. We do not find it mentioned in the valor 
of Pope Nicholas, A.D. 1292. In the Liber Regis, under the head 
" Thirsk Nova." it is thus noticed. " In this parish is the borough 
town of Old Thirsk, where was a chapel of St. James, but it is 
demolished."' Thus shewing that it had been destroyed before the 
reformation. Not a vestige of it now remains above ground, nor 
can its exact site be determined, although in digging the founda- 
tions of the house now occupied by Mr. Pearson, human bones 
were found : bones have also been found near the elm tree, from 
which we may infer that there was a burial ground attached to 
the chapel. Two paved causeways led to it from different direc- 
tions : they were torn up many years ago. 

On this green stands an elm tree, the youthful successor of a 

* Besides other evidence contained in legal documents, the following- extract from 
the court-rolls of the manor is decisive as to the ancient name of this street. " 1624. 
That Richard Wilson, or the occupier of his house on St. Jameses Greene, shall make 
up the fence at the little Lone end toward St. James' grene adjoy'nge to his howse 
side, or make a stile, easful and passageable for people to goe over, and that Mr. Bell 
and Matthew Toppin shall doe the like to the other end towards Micklegate, betwixt 
and Candlemas next upon paiue of ev'ye one of them making default, xs." 



118 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

gigantic plant of the same species, which stood here for many ages, 
and under which the elections for the borough were formerly 
held : so long " that the memory of man is not to the contrary." 
It had become hollow and half dead through extreme old age, 
when on the 5th of November, 1818, whilst the youths of the 
town were celebrating the anniversary of the discovery of Gun- 
powder Plot, the idea entered their mischievous heads to make a 
bonfire of the old elm tree, and procuring tar from the yard of a 
ropemaker near at hand, they poured it into a hollow near the 
top, and setting fire to the tree thus prepared below, the whole 
was soon in a blaze, and notwithstanding a very rainy night, was 
consumed, with the exception of a few side branches which fell off 
during the conflagration, and were preserved by John Bell, Esq., 
lord of the manor, and formed into two arm chairs for his servants' 
hall, each bearing the legend " Old Elm tree, 1820." 

Millgate is the name of the street leading from St. James' 
green to the market place, so named from the large corn mill there 
situate, (part of which was formerly a tobacco manufactory) the 
motive power of which is chiefly derived from the waters of Cod- 
beck. The mill is the property of Frederick Bell, Esq., now leased 
to a joint stock company, called " The Thirsk Provident Corn 
Mill Society." The capital consists of two thousand shares of one 
pound each. The holders of which have the privilege of pur- 
chasing their flour twopence per stone under the regular market 
price. The concern is in a prosperous condition and the shares at 
a considerable premium. The management is in the hands of a 
chairman, deputy chairman, treasurer, ten directors, three trustees, 
five arbitrators, and two auditors. Steam power was added to the 
mill in 1856, at a cost of 265/. lis. 2d. 

A suit of bath rooms adjoining this mill, were fitted up by 
public subscription in August, 1857. The charges are reasonable, 
and they may be considered a great acquisition to the town. 

On a piece of ground called the Tenter Garth, from its being 
formerly the place where the goods of a large dying establishment 
were hung to dry on tenters, is a square of about fifty feet, sur- 
rounded by a moat twenty feet wide by six feet deep. Various 



THIRSK. 119 

conjectures have been hazarded as to its original use, some deeming 
it to have been a Danish camp, others a barbacan, or entrance to 
the castle, neither of them very probable, and the first quite un- 
likely. From its appearance we should imagine that a building of 
some kind had occupied the central area, and the moat was for its 
protection. The garth in which it is situated is nearly surrounded 
by water, and we suppose it was " the Island of Tresc, which was 
the property of Richard the priest," mentioned in the foundation 
charter of Newburgh Priory. 

The street leading from the market place to the church is styled 
Kirkgate ; and along it passes the road to Northallerton ; it was 
formerly a busy thoroughfare, but the great steam revolution has 
stilled its bustle, and made it only like a common highway. The 
Meeting House of the Society of Friends is in this street ; the Hall, 
the Church, and the Parsonage are all situated at its northern 
extremity. 

In many of the streets of Thirsk, and especially in this, numbers 
of fruit trees, chiefly apricots, are trained along the walls of the 
houses, and in autumn exhibit their ripened fruit temptingly 
within reach without any protection.* 

Norby, is the name of the one-sided street which leads out of 
the town along the north road. The Old Parsonage is situated 
here, it is among the oldest houses in the town, now a cottage fast 
going to decay. 

The approach to Thirsk on this side is very pleasing, on one 
hand is the row of houses, on the other the river Codbeck, inter- 
rupted by the mill dam, forms a long canal, 

" Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull, 
Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full." 

On the eastern side is a fine grove of tall willows with straight 
stems and broadly spreading heads, forming in summer an agree- 
able shade, and in winter a comfortable shelter. 

Amid the willows rises a plenteous spring of water, which is 
protected by a simple triangular cover of stone, and known by the 

* " Thirsk apricot jam is allowed to be the best in the world, by the famous Soyer 
and Francatelli of the Reform Club." 



120 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

name of " our Lady's Well." Probably the water in ancient times 
was used in the services of the church, to which it is immediately 
contiguous, and as the church was dedicated to our Lady, the spring 
became sacred to the same patroness. 

About a mile from Thirsk, on the road to Northallerton, is the 
Spa, a saline mineral spring, containing iron and lime in solution, 
the waters are brisk, sparkling, purgative, and diuretic, resembling 
the Scarborough and Cheltenham waters. It was fitted up with 
three baths and other buildings, and about forty years ago was 
much frequented during the summer months, both for the purpose 
of bathing and drinking the waters. Mr. Wass, a medical prac- 
titioner of much repute in Thirsk in his day, had a very high 
opinion of its virtues, for the cure of scrofulous complaints and the 
general debility attending them. It was much used by the boys 
under the care of the Rev. Daniel Addison, when he kept the 
academy in the castle garth. At that time the spring poured an 
abundant stream, sufficient to fill three large baths, now it would 
hardly suffice to fill one of them in a week. The general opinion 
is that the water has been directed from its proper course by 
draining the land in the immediate vicinity. 

A piece of land extending from the Northallerton road to the 
Newsham road, bears the name of " Gallows Lane," where tradi- 
tion says the gallows belonging to the lord of the manor of Thirsk 
formerly stood. 



THE CHURCH. 



The Church stands facing the end of the street called Kirkgate, 
almost close to the Hall, and near the northern extremity of the 
town. It is of the Perpendicular style of architecture, which pre- 
vailed in England from the latter part of the fourteenth to the 
early part of the sixteenth century, and may, therefore, probably 
be some 450 years old. A church, however, existed at Thirsk 
long before this was built, as well as the Chapel on St. James' 
Green. 



THIRSK. 121 

The present fabric, dedicated to St. Mary, consists of a nave 
with north and south aisles, chancel, crypt, porch, and a square 
tower at the west end. The whole building is at once light, 
graceful, elegant, and complete ; and as no modern additions or 
improvements have marred the beauty of the first design, it ap- 
pears much in the same state as when it came from the builders' 
hands. 

The tower, probably the latest part of the building, is 80 feet 
high, divided into three stories, supported at the angles by but- 
tresses of seven stages, which die away beneath the battlement ; 
which last is divided into embrasures, and pierced. There are no 
pinnacles, which detracts sadly from the pictorial appearance of 
the tower, so that at a distance it appears bald and stern. The 
water is conveyed from the roof by a handsome gargoyle at each 
corner. In the first story on the west side is a large window of 
three lights : above which, in a niche, is a small statue of the 
Virgin and Child. A loophole window lights the bell-ringers' 
chamber. In the third story, on the four sides, are windows 
similar to those in the aisles of the church. 

The Porch, which has been recently renovated, is entered by an 
acutely pointed arch, resting on the capitals of two pillars on each 
side. From brackets in the wall, and the remains of arches, it is 
easy to see that the porch has formerly had a groined roof, and 
there has been a room over it, so that it must have been of greater 
height than at present. The entrance into this room has been 
from the interior of the church, by a doorway which is yet visible.* 

* It was formerly the custom to pay rents, settle law disputes, and transact other 
important business, in the porches of churches; over which was generally a room, 
sometimes used as a school, sometimes as a place for keeping records. The people 
used to come early in the morning on law matters, begging to have mass first said 
by the priest. Eadmer mentions persons assembling there on business. Barclay in 
his " Ship of Fooles " thus satirises the custom : — 

" There are handled pleadings, and causes of the lawe, 
There are made bargaynes of divers maner thinges, 
Byings and sellinges scant worth a hawe, 
And there are for lucre contrived false leaseinges ; 
And while the Priest his Masse or Matins singes 
These fooles, which to the Church doe repayre, 
Are chatting and babling, as it were in a fayre." 



122 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The front of the south aisle is lighted by five windows of three 
lights each, with cinquefoil heads and perpendicular tracery above. 
The clerestory windows lighting the nave are six in number, also 
of three lights each, with arches more depressed than those of the 

About the year 1513, the room above the porch here was inhabited by one Thomas 
Parkinson, an anchorite of Thirsk, as appears from " The Examination and Trouble 
of Thomas Parkinson, a Sely Poor Hermit, Driven to open Penance by the Papists," 
in " Acts and Monuments " by John Foxe, vol. viii., p. 745-6. As he was connected 
with this town we give an extract as shewing- the manners of the time. 

" In the last year of Queen Mary, Anno 1558, Thomas Parkinson of the diocese of 
Coventry and Lichfield, being- of the sect of Anchorite, was producted before Dr. 
Draycot, upon the suspicion to have a wife. He was examined as folio weth. Being- 
asked what ag-e he is now of, he saith, that he shall be at Whitsuntide next seventy 
years old, and was born and X'tianed in a town called Bedale in Yorkshire : and 
was son to one Thomas Parkinson, bailiff of Thirsk, in the same county of York; 
and when he was 12 years old he was set to the tailor's craft, to one Thomas Dent of 
Thirsk, and served him seven or eight years as his apprentice ; and after that, before 
he was twenty years old he took to wife one Agnes, the daughter of Hugh H ally well 
dwelling in the franchise of Blpon, being a maid of twenty-four years ; and was 
married to her in Thirsk by one Sir William Day, then curate there, and within two 
years after their marriage together, his wife was delivered of a manchild, which, 
although while it was in her body, did stir and live (as she and others perceived) yet 
after the birth, it was dead, so as it could not be christened ; insomuch as the Mid- 
wife, and other women with her, buried the said child, as they said, in the fields — 
where, he (this examinate) cannot tell. And, within three weeks after, it chanced 
that a raven had gotten up the said child out of the ground, and torn the clothes 
from about the same child, and had begun to break into the said child, to feed upon ; 
and had brought it into a tree, near unto the churchyard of Thirsk, upon a Saturday 
a little before evensong time. And as the people and the priest before named saw 
the same child, they made means to drive away the raven and get the child from him ; 
so as they reasoning among themselves whose child it should be, did judge that it 
was this examinate's child, that was dead born and buried in the fields. And the 
said William Day came home to this examinate, and asked him for his child, and he 
showed him that the women had buried it in the fields, which the priest also exam- 
ined of the women, and found it to be true ; and then he showed this examinate of 
the bringing of the child by the raven. Whereupon this examinate and his wife, 
were therewithal stricken with repentance to Godward, and each of them vowed 
themselves from thenceforth to live chaste and solitary, insomuch that this exami- 
nate when he was but twenty-two or twenty-three years old, professed the order of 
St. Francis at Richmond, five [ten ?] miles from Mid'lam, and was a hermit or peni- 
tentiary at Thirsk, and kept the chapel of St. Giles at the end of the town of Thirsk. 
And his wife also was sister of Saint Francis's order, and had a bead woman's room 
at Northallerton, by the help of Sir James Strangeways, Knight; and after he had 
kept the order of Saint Francis two or three years, he determined to live a more hard 
and strait life, and to be an Anchorite, and to seclude himself from the company of 
the world. And thereupon, he was first closed up in a little house in the church 
porch at Thirsk, where he lived by the help of good people, two years before he was 
profess'd ; and when it was perceived that he liked that kind of life, and could en- 
dure the same, there was a chapel and a place provided for him in the Mount of 
Grace, above the Charter house, by Queen Katharine, and he was professed in that 
house by one Dr. Makerel, then suffragen to Cardinal Wolsey, and the suffragen had 
of this examinate's friends for his profession five pounds ; and there this examinate 



THIRSK. 123 

aisles. Between each of the windows is a staged buttress, which rises 
above the battlement and ends in a crocketted pinnacle. The chan- 
cel has two windows on each side, with depressed arches similar to 
those of the clerestory. The east window is of five lights under 
a depressed arch. The windows of the north aisle and clerestory 
are similar to those on the south. All the windows have weather 
mouldings, sometimes terminating in carved ornaments. An open 
battlement similar to that on the tower, runs round the nave, 
aisles, and chancel, which, with the many crocketted pinnacles, 
produces a fine effect. The roof of the nave is of a good pitch and 
covered with lead ; that of the chancel is much flatter, and is pro- 
bably not of its original height. 

The walls are of a fine, hard, imperishable sandstone, but some 
of the tracery of the windows is of limestone. 

There is a tradition that the church was built out of the ruins of 
the castle, but there appears to be no evidence to support it, as 
there is no indication that the stones of the present fabric have 
been used in any previous building. No fragments of Norman 
work, which would be the style of the castle, if it was of stone, 
are anywhere to be seen ; which would certainly have been the 
case had the stones been used for a different building of a dif- 
ferent age. 

There are a few large stones forming part of the fence of the 



remained twelve years and more in that house, and his wife would sometime take 
one of his sisters, and come over and see how this examinate did, but she died six or 
seven years before this examinate came out of his house ; and after this came doctor 
Lee, and he pulled this examinate out of his house, and the monks also out of the 
charter-house, so as this examinate was driven to go abroad to get his living of good 
people ; and when he could get any work to get a penny to take it ; howbeit he kept 
his habit still." After divers rambles and adventm-es our worthy hermit, at Bridge- 
north in Shropshire, "by chance fell in acquaintance with one Elizabeth, which was 
wife to one William Romney, a tinker, that died there. They were married together 
in the chapel within the castle of Bridgenorth, by one Sir William Malpas. Being 
asked what moved him to marry, he said that he was foul troubled with vermin, and 
had no help of washing and tending as was requisite, nor had any house to be in ; 
and so made his moan to this woman ; and then she being troubled, as she said, with 
certain unruly children of hers, and could not be quiet for them, was content to go 

with this examinate, and to be his wife For this cause the papists enjoined him 

penance ; — to go before the cross barefoot and barelegged, in the cathedral church at 
Lichfield with a taper, and I cannot tell what, in his hand, etc. ; and at Easter cast 
him into a close cabin, there to remain till he heard more of the bishop's pleasure." 



124 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

parsonage garden, which have heen used, or intended for a dif- 
ferent purpose. They may, however, have only formed a portion 
of the surplus materials, when the tower was huilt. 

The interior is spacious, lofty, light, and beautiful; the arrange- 
ment of all the parts is so perfect that the most critical can hardly 
do anything but admire. The arch between the nave and chancel 
is semicircular, and does not harmonise well with those dividing 
the nave and aisles. It is of modern erection : the original division 
was of timber. The galleries, which formerly encumbered the 
church, have all been removed, the great western arch into the 
the basement of the tower opened out, and the interior (with the 
exception of pews for stalls) presents much of its original appear- 
ance. The nave is separated from the aisles by six arches, sup- 
ported by five lofty clustered columns, the east and west resting 
on responds in the walls : above these are the clerestory windows 
occupying half the surface of the wall, and throwing a flood of 
light among the carved woodwork of the roof. 

In this church were two chantries, one at the end of each aisle. 
A small piscina in the wall of the south aisle yet points out the 
place where it is supposed that of St. Ann * was situated. There 
are no traces of aumbrie or sedilia visible. This chantry is now 
converted into pews; one of them contains some fragments of 
ancient carved oak, bearing the lion rampant of Mowbray, and 
the three asses passant of Askew. f 

The roof of the nave is said to be of Irish oak,} and is highly 
beautiful, the intersections of the timbers are ornamented with 

* Of the foundation and value of these chantries little appears to be known. 
Tanner in his " Notitia Monastica," says, " They abbey of Begare in Brittany hav- 
ing several estates in England, particularly in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire : there 
was a cell of monks of that abbey fixed near Richmond, in the time of Henry III., 
which on the suppression of the foreign houses was first granted to the chantry of 
St. Ann of Thresk, then to Eaton College, then to the priory of Mount Grace, and 
then to Eaton college again." 

+ The family of Askew or Ascough held the Rectory for a long time as Lessees 
under the Archbishop of York. 

t It is a subject worthy of note that in the Canterbury Cathedral is a monument of 
anterior date to the Conquest, composed of granite with an efllgy of Irish oak. The 
latter is as hard and as perfect as the day it was fashioned, the former crumbling 
into dust. 



THIRSK. 125 

bosses, carved in every imaginable variety of form, some of them 
resembling the fantastic comic and tragic masks of antiquity. 
The corbels supporting the hammer beams are adorned with the 
forms of angels. The effect of the whole is very fine, the parts 
harmonise well with each other, and the eye wanders delighted 
from boss to boss, until it has surveyed the whole and found it 
perfect. 

The roof of the Chancel is flatter, and has not the fine effect 
which distinguishes that of the nave. 

The Altar Table is of massive oak, the feet carved into a resem- 
blance of sea-lions. Tradition says it was brought from Byland 
Abbey. 

The Font is octagonal, and stands on a square step. The bowl 
is lined with lead, and large enough for baptism by immersion. 
The fine oak canopy above it, of the same style as the church, has 
. lately been shortened, and is now raised by a screw — it was form- 
erly elevated by means of a chain and pulley from the roof. 

The Organ, which is a barrel instrument, was first erected in 
1813, and then stood in the western gallery, but was removed to 
its present position, at the west end of the north aisle, about two 
years ago, when the gallery was removed and the basement arch 
of the tower opened out. 

Until lately the stained-glass in the windows was but small in 
quantity, and scattered in different parts of the church, until the 
incumbency of the Rev. Samuel Coates, who had the fragments 
collected, and for their better preservation, inserted in the east 
windows of the aisles. They are of ancient workmanship, and 
many of them exceedingly beautiful — consisting principally of 
shields of arms : one of frequent occurrence is that of Askew, or 
Ascoagh : — sable, a fess, gules between three asses passant. No 
fewer than three shields bear these arms ; one with a mullet for 
distinction, and one with a crescent.* A female figure bears on 



* In 1585 there were twelve shields in stained-glass in the windows of this church 
— four of Ascough ; four of Strangwayes, with different quarterings ; two of Orrell ; 
and two others, one bearing a chevron inter three cocks, and the other three boars. 
— Glover's Visitation, 



126 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

her breast the royal arms of England quartered with France, the 
motto curiously spelt: 2Btsu et fHotttt JBvot There are many 
other figures in a good state of preservation, bearing the names of 
St. DUonartrus. &nna. (EleopJjus. 

The east window of the chancel is now richly dight with figures 
of Christ and the four Evangelists, in stained-glass, the work of 
Mr. "Wailes of Newcastle, from designs by Lady Walshingham 
and her four sisters, daughters of Sir Robert Frankland Russell, 
Bart., of Thirkleby, at whose cost the work was executed in the 
year 1844; when the whole of the chancel was repaired and a new 
roof put upon it, by the liberality of Sir Robert and Lord Walsh- 
ingham, as a monument to the wife of the latter, and daughter of 
the former. 

Commemorative of this restoration and design, is an inscription 
in gilt letters above the chancel door. 

" This chancel was repaired A.D. 1844 by Lord Walshingham 
and Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart., in memory of a beloved 
wife and daughter, who was suddenly taken from them after only 
three days' illness; and by whom, and her four sisters, the altar 
window was painted. 

All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of 
the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word 
of our God shall stand for ever. — Isaiah, 40 — 6, 8. 

He that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent me 
hath everlasting life. — John, 5 — 20." 

The piscina yet remains in the south wall of the chancel — it has 
a cinquefoil head. Between, and the chancel door, are the Sedilia, 
consisting of three stalls of equal height, with cinquefoil heads — 
the wall between the seats and the floor is worked in panels. 
These seats were intended for the priest, the deacon, and the sub- 
deacon, who retired thither during some parts of the service. 

Beneath the chancel is a crypt, the descent to which is by fif- 
teen steps, the roof of which is a fine flat arch. It was sometime 
used as a Grammar School, now only as a Sunday School. It 



THIRSK. 127 

probably at one time formed the dwelling of the priest, who came 
from Newburgh Priory to perform the weekly duties of the church. 

Considering the extent and beauty of the building, and the fam- 
ilies which have resided in the neighbourhood, there are compara- 
tively speaking, very few monuments in this church. 

According to Torre's MSS. the following testamentary burials 
have taken place here : — ■ 

" Penult, Jan. 1436. 
Rob't Greenwood, CI. Advocate of the court of York, made his 
will, proved 11 Feb. 1436, giving his soul to God Almighty, his 
Creator, and his body to be buried in the church of St. Mary of 
Threske, in the place of his ancestors." 

" Oct., A.D. 1454, 
John Ascough of Threske made his will, proved 18 Oct. 1454, 
giving his soul to God Almighty, St. Mary, and All Saints. And 
his body to be buried in the parish church of Thirske." 

■ 20 Sep. 1472. 
Robert Palliser of Sand Hoton made his will, proved 20 October 
1472, giving his soul to God Almighty, St. Mary, and All Saints; 
and his body to be buried in the church of Treske." 

" 29 Sept. 1469. 
Thomas Palliser of Sand Hoton made his will, proved 21 Nov. 
1469, giving his soul (ut supra) and his body to be buried in the 
Church of our J^ady at Therske afore the rood where his moder 
lyeth." 

" 24 May, 1629. 
Ralph Bransby of Thirsk made his will, proved 4 Aug. 1630, 
giving his soul to God Almighty, his Creator and Redeemer, and 
his body to be buried in the Church of Thirske near his father." 

The oldest inscription in the church is near the east end of the 
south aisle, on a flat stone, inlaid with brass. 

p?tc $attt iftofc'tu* ©ler'us nup' Sector lEccl't^ & 

(BWtxbi 

IfcaL IS Wr, &. Mm, mccccxtx* ©ut p'pmtur 33'g* &nun. 



128 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Lower down, on a brass plate, are the remains of what have 
probably been eulogistic verses. — 

<&$ tegtte X'tt O non jacet J»tc lapte fete 

©orpug 

^u qui 

%$xo me turn p'ccg git btnk gpeg. 

The following tribute to the memory of a clergyman is inscribed 
on a white marble slab in the nave. — 

M. S. 

Josephi Midgley, M.A., 

Hujus Ecclesise Pastoris ; 

Qui 

Linguarum Peritia, 

Lectione Sacra, 

Morum Integritate, 

Modestia Summa, 

Exornatus ; 

Gregem ad Pietatem, Unitatem, 

Coeterasq. Vertutes, 

Non minore Facundia, concitavit : 

Donee, Fato, Eheu ! celeri nimis sublatus, 

Nondum Quinquagenarius 

8. Kal. Jul. 1704. 

Cum sum mo Luorum Luctu 

Decessit. 

Saram duxit, Johannis Pybus Filiam 

(Vir huic Municipio, olim pernoti perq. grati) 

Patris dignissimi Filiam haud Degenerum, 

Quse 

Pia, Fida, Benigna, 

Deo, Marito, Pauperibus. 

Filii unici, septem deinde Filiarum 

Mater Charissima, 

Hie juxta Maritum 

Una cum tribus e Filiabus, 

Jam Quinquagenaria 

8, Kal. Aug. 1710, 

Placide recubuit. 



TniRSK. 129 

A white marble tablet in the south aisle bears the following 
inscription. — 

11 Sacred to the Memory of Ann Pybus, Spinster, a native of this parish, 
wherein she lived seventy-five years. She died the 13th of January, 
1778, in the 83rd year of her age; sincerely lamented by all who knew 
her, or had heard of her. 

When the best heart and purest manners joined 
To manly sense, which dignifies the mind ; 
When humble worth, from youth to age approved, 
Alike by rich and poor, admired, beloved ; 
When merit, such as greater heav'n ne'er gave, 
By heaven is sentenced to th' oblivious grave : 
W 7 e mourn the loss, and grieve that such depart, 
With eyes o'erflowing, and with woeful heart. 
A loss like this, here calls your sorrow forth, 
Bestow your tears and emulate her worth. 

This monument was erected by John Pybus, Esq., of Greenhill Grove, 
in the county of Hertford ; to rescue from speedy oblivion the memory 
of a beloved Aunt, universally respected for the various good qualities 
which adorn the woman and the christian. " 

A marble tablet against the north wall of the chancel com- 
memorates a foreign lady. 

" Near this place are the remains of the Honourable Amelia Frederica 
Wilhelmina Melesina Sparre ; the only remaining child of Charles, Baron 
Sparre, by Elizabeth, Countess of Gyllemborg Sparre. He was Aid-de- 
Camp to Charles XII., King of Sweden, and with him in all his wars, a 
Major General ; and twenty-five years Minister from Sweden to the 
Court of Great Britain. 

If e'er sharp sorrow from thine eye did flow, 
If e'er thy bosom felt another's woe, 
If e'er fair beauty's charms thine heart did prove, 
If e'er the offspring of thy virtuous love 
Bloom 'd to thy wishes, to thy soul was dear, 
This plaintive stone does ask of thee a tear. 
For here alas ! too early snatch'd away, 
An honest faithful heart death made his prey. 
Obiit vii. Oct., m,dcc,lxxviii." 
On a stone over the vault is inscribed. — 

" The Vault of the Hon. Miss Sparre. 
Doom'd to receive all that my soul holds dear, 
Give her that rest her heart refus'd her here ; 

J 



130 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

O ! screen her from the pain the tender know, 
The train of sorrows that from passion flow, 
And to her envied new-born state adjoin 
That heavenly bliss fit for such hearts as thine. " 

The Register briefly mentions this lady's interment, with, the 
addition of her age. 

"1778, Oct. 11, Sparre Amelia Frederica Wilhelmina Melesina, aged 
40. Buried in a vault in the chancel.' ' 

In the tower are four bells, the largest weighing twenty-two 
cwt. Tradition says that this bell originally belonged to Fountains 
Abbey. It bears the name of Jesus, and the date 1410, in old 
English capitals. 

"Slnno milbno quatre cento quoque tint t$t f)tt rampana 

One of the others bears the words voco yeni, precare, and the 
date 1729. The two others are dated respectively 1775, and 1805. 

The following benefactions have been left to the poor of Thirsk. 

Henry Davison, by his will, dated 1629, gave 20s. per annum 
in lands called Oldby. 

William Wrightson, by his will, dated 1684, gave two rood 

of land called Wetland. 

Richard Wrightson, by his will, dated 1725, gave 2s. per annum, 
to be given in white bread on Christmas day, in half an acre of 
land called Kill-hill. 

The Rev. Mr. Midgley, by his will, dated 10th Nov., 1692, gave 
the sum of 15s. yearly, and charged the close called Bransby Croft 
with the payment thereof. 

By a deed, dated April 23rd, 1767, 10s. per annum is due to the 
poor from the Methodist Meeting House in Old Thirsk. 

Henry Croe, by his last will, dated Sept. 22nd, 1657, gave four 
wands of land lying in the North Ings, paying 16s. yearly. 

The several annual sums and rents above mentioned, are distri- 
buted by the Churchwardens at their discretion among the poor 
people of the township of Thirsk. 

" Timothy Place, Esq., of London, but formerly of this town, 
left by his will, bearing date June 1st, 1810, one thousand pounds, 



THIRSK. 131 

three per cent, consolidated fund, to the poor of this parish for 
ever : a proportionate part of the interest and dividend of which 
to be laid out every week in the purchase of bread, and distributed 
among such poor people of Thirsk, not receiving alms from the 
said parish, viz : — That such persons shall be regular in attendance 
on divine worship in this church. The above named Timothy 
Place, left also by his last will, 200/. three per cent, consolidated 
fund, towards building the organ in this church." 

The Registers commence in 1556, about eighteen years after the 
order was given by Thomas Cromwell, as vicegerent of Henry 
VIII. , ordaining that " every officiating minister shall, for every 
church keep a book, wherein he shall register every Marriage, 
Christening, or Burial." 

" Venerable book ! Every record of human life is a solemn 
document. Birth, Marriage, Death ! This is the whole history 
of the sojourn upon earth, of nearly every name inscribed on these 
mouldy, stained, blotted pages. And after a few years what is 
the interest, even to their descendants, of these brief annals ? 
With the most of those for whom the last entry is still to be made, 
the question is, did they leave property ? Is some legal verifica- 
tion of their possession of property necessary ? " * 

From 1556, to 1563, the register appears to have been copied 
from some previous document which had become nearly illegible, 
as we find at the heading of the first book, (itself not very easily 
deciphered now), these words, among others, partly and completely 
obliterated, — " etfidelitur cu original collata" "Which shews that 
this part had been copied from some original and collated there- 
with. Further we find " Sic incipii primus liber. Then " In 
initio desunt queda quoz obscurata legi non poterantP 

The Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials are inserted indiscri- 
minately, just as they occurred. Among the names on the earliest 
pages, we find those of Pennington, Stockdale, Dent, and Abbot. 

At the end of the copied part occurs the following note. " Sic 
exut primus liber qu quide deficet in multis." 

* Charles Knight. 



132 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The real original register begins as follows : — 

" This booke beginneth y e fifth daye of January, in y e eighth 
yeare of y e raigne of o r Soveryne Lady Elizabeth, A.Dn. 1565." 

To 1581, the baptisms, marriages, and burials are mixed, after- 
wards they are entered on separate pages ; in which year we find 
the following entry : — " Hie est tertius & ultimus liber, in quo 
ora fide bona, et ordine optima Scripta videntur." 

In 1640, the occupations of the deceased are first given : and 
the register proves that early in the civil wars of the 17th century 
a body of soldiers was for some time stationed at Thirsk. 

"1617, January 10, John, a bastard child of Elizabeth Johnson, 
whose father as yet is unknown, was baptized, he is supposed to 
be one Coleyr of York, a dier." Can any thing be more faithfully 
minute than the above ? 

During the Commonwealth when marriages were performed be- 
fore the civil magistrates, we find certificates like the following : — 

" 1654, The marriage betwixt Richard Tyndale and Ellen 
Atkinson, was solemnized the 28th day of November, in the yeare 
one thousand six hundred fifty and fower in the p'sence of Will'm 
Tyndale, James Coate, and Will'm Clarkson, Witness, and be- 
fore me, Wm. Ayscoughe." 

The other magistrates whose names are appended to similar 
entries are Robert Walters, Thomas Harrison, Anthony Rounth- 
waite, Henry Spence, Maior, Henry Lascelles, and William 
Bottomley. 

On the first page of the second book is the following memo- 
randum : — " Anno Dominy, 1646. 
John Clarkson of Thirske, was nominated and elected by the In- 
habitants and contributors to the poore of the Parish of Thirske, 
to be the Registor of that Parish the 16th of October." 
" John Clarkson abovesaid elected to be the Parish Registor of 
Thirske, was afterwards sworn y e 28th Oct. 

Signed, Hy. Lascelles." 

On the last page of the same book is written, 
" Names of persons excommunicated out of Thirske Church, Aug. 
1, 1708, Elizabeth Billup, John Palliser, and Ann Wood." 



THIRSK. 133 

In the third book the following memoranda occur, 
" The Thanksgiving Day for y e Delivery of y e French from 
y e Plague at Marselley & y e Protection of England y n under 
fearful apprehension of being infected thereby, was on Thursday, 
25th of April, 1723." 

" Elizabeth Fawcett's excommunication was pronounced in 
Thirsk Church, on Sunday ye 28 of April, 1723." 

" Jane Bell's excommunication was denounced in Thirsk Church, 
on Sunday, ye 10th of March, 1727." 

" 1746, April 27th, Mary Moore's absolution was published." 

The registers bear witness of the fearful ravages of small pox, 
before the general application of inoculation and vaccination. 
From the 24th of August, 1784, to December 13th in the same 
year, thirty children died of small pox : eight were buried in one 
day. From May 24th to Sept. 11, 1773, ten died of small pox. 
An awful visitation for so small a town : " Making much work for 
tears in many an English mother." And truly thankful ought 
we to be that the hand of science has arrested the march of this 
destroyer. 

"Dr. Blackburn, Archbishop of York, preached in Thirsk Church, 
16th July, 1727." 

" 1770, July 25 th, Bishop Drummond Connrm'd in Thirsk 
Church nigh 2000 people." 

" Burials, 1769, May 22, Jane Davy, a single woman, (a dwarf), 
Lefte 200 pound to the poor of Thirsk." 

We close our extracts from the venerable chronicle with an in- 
stance of longevity. 

" Burials, 1778, Oct. 23, John Ward, by trade a weaver, 99, 
natural decay."* 

Of the early history of the church of Thirsk we have but scanty 
information. We learn from the foundation charter of Newburgh 
Priory, granted by Roger de Mowbray in the year 1145, that there 

* Catherine Harrison of Thirsk, -was buried at Kirby Knowle, March 8th, 1795, 
age 100 years. To these instances of old age we now add another of more recent 
date ; that of Mr. Thomas Snowden, who died at the Oak Tree Inn, Thirsk, Nov, 
27, 1856, in the one hundreth year of his age ; he had been nearly 80 years a tenant 
on the Frankland estate. 



134 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

was a church and chapel then at Thirsk, the latter dedicated to 
St. James ; and which were hoth given at that time to the new 
foundation of Newburgh.* The church probably stood where the 
present church stands; the chapel was situated on what is now 
called St. James' Green in Old Thirsk. 

William de Mowbray, grandson of the above Koger, founded * a 
Chappele at Thirske ; and also a Chantry therein, and dedicated 
the same to St. Nycholas ; and agreed with y e monks of New- 
borough, that although it was not a parochial chm^ch ; yette y e 
Beies sh (1 be rung at y e celebration of Masse there, whensoever he 
or any of his Heirs should be present, and on the festival of St. 
Nicholas, and y e Obitts of his ancestors." 

Of the situation of this chapel and chantry, we have no inform- 
ation, they appear to have perished and left no vestige behind 
them. 

From Torre's MSS. now in the library of the Dean and Chapter 
of York, we have extracted the following brief notices of the 
church of Thirsk. 

" The church of Tresche was given to the priory of Newburgh, 
and at the dissolution thereof was by King Henry VIII. (36 regni) 
passed away to the Archbishop of York and his successors in ex- 
change for other of his lands. So the Archbishops are proprietors 
of the same and have the tithes and glebe lands belonging to the 
church, although it hath no incumbent instituted therein, but is 
served by a stipendiary priest or curate." 

" On 27th Jany., 1306, a composition was made between the 
inhabitants of the towns of Tresch, Carlton and Hoton, on the one 
part, and the inhabitants of the town of Sourby on the other part, 
touching the repairs of the church of Tresche, whereby the said 
inhabitants of Tresche, Carlton, and Hoton, were to pay two parts, 



+ Rex omnibus salutem, Sciatis me concessisse et carta mea presenti confirmisse 
Abbetise Beats M arise de Novo Burgi et Prior et Canonicis ibidem Deo servientibus 
in perpetuam Eleemosynam, donationera illam quam Rog-erus de Molbray eis fecit in 
ecclesus et terris et ceteris possessionibus ipsum videlicet locum in quo locum 
Abbatia fundata est ; ecclesiam de Hod ; ecclesiam de Cukwald cum capellis et 
omnibus pertinantibus suis : ecclesiam de Tresc cum Capellis et mansione et ceteris 
pertinantibus, &c." Pat. Anno. 18 Ed. 3. — Dodsworth's Collectanea, Vol. 21, fol. 65. 



THIRSK. 135 

and the inhabitants of Sourby one part of the sum imposed." 
"There were two chantries of St. Ann founded in the parish 
Church of Threske." 

The living is a perpetual curacy in the Archdeaconry of Cleve- 
land, Deanery of Buhner, and Diocese of York. The Archbishop 
of York is the patron. 

In the taxation of Pope Nicholas, about the year 1292, it was 
valued at 36/. 13s. 4:d. In the Nova Tax, only twenty-six years 
afterwards, it had fallen to 12/., which shews that this parish had 
suffered severely from the incursions of the Scots at that period. 

In the "Valor Ecclesiasticus, A.D. 1535," it is called Libera 
Capella, and its rights are stated to be a mansion with appurte- 
nances in Bagby, rents and farms in Thirsk, and the rent of a 
garden in Bagby, value 51. 16s. 4 d. 

In 1707, the curacy was valued at 40/. ; and in 1818, at 98/. per 
annum. In 1811, it was augmented with 1200/., and in 1824, 
with 400/., both from the parliamentary grant by lot ; and in 1834, 
with 400/. from the same grant to meet a benefaction of a stipend 
of 30/. per annum from Edward Harcourt, Lord Archbishop of 
York, as a perpetual augmentation. 

An additional burial ground was consecrated Oct. 2nd., 1803. 

The following is the most correct list we have been able to ob- 
tain of the incumbents of Thirsk. Before the reformation, the 
duty was done by monks from Newburgh, who probably took it 
in turns, and no one was regularly appointed. The two first 
names are from Torre's MSS., the others from the parish register. 

Joh. Esyngton, Cap. 1746. Anthony Routh. 

17 May, 1471, Will. Assynby, Cap. 1762. Daniel Addison. 



1783. Thomas Barker. 



1600. Thomas Todd, 1798. Jonathan Holmes. 

1632. T. Gilleys. 1829. Robert Lascelles, M.A. 

Matthew Hill, M.A. * 1833. Samuel Coates, M.A. 

1704. Joseph Midgeley. 1843. William Lindley, present Incumbt. 

1746. William Williamson, 



* In 1662, Matthew Hill was ejected from his living. He was of Magdalen College, 
Cambridge, a man of considerable talents and learning. After the loss of his curacy 
at Thirsk, he went to London, and lost all his possessions by fire, upon which he 
subscribed a letter thus, " Your brother, sine re, sine spe, tantumnon sine se," M.H. 



136 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The following valuation of the Rectory of Thirsk, including the 
Chapelries of Sowerby, Carlton Miniott, and Sand Hutton, is from 
the account of Thomas Whithouse, collector, for one year, 31st 
Henry VIII. 

Rectory of Thirsk. The sum of 61. for the rent of one messuage 
in Thirsk, with the tithes of grain in Thirsk aforesaid, to be paid 
yearly at the terms of St. Martin and St. Mark, equally, besides 
2s. charged among temporal things. 

11/. 6s. 8d. for the rent of Tithes of grain of the vill. of Sowerby, 
of the vill. of Sand Hutton, and all manner of Tithes of Woodhall 
field, let to Roger Lassels, Knt., by Indre, dated 8th Henry VIII., 
for 41 years. 

18s. 4d. for the rent of a close in Thorp or Petty Thorp, called 
the Prior Close, with all, and all manner of Tithes of Grain, Hay, 
Wool, Lambs, Geese, and Pigs in Thorp or Petty Thorp. 

41. for the rent of the Tithes of Carlton Mynyott, and 121. 15s. 
for the rent of all personal Tithes, with one messuage, two closes 
and four oxgates (in Thirsk), with all, and all manner of Tythes 
of Wool, Lamb, and Hemp, together with all the particular Tythes 
let before to other persons — except all the Tythes of wool and 
lambs, and other small tithes of the vills. of Sowerby, Sandhutton, 
and Carlton, assigned from ancient times for the maintenance of 
two Chaplains to perform divine service there. 

After the dissolution of the monasteries the Rectory of Thirsk 
came into the hands of the King, Henry VIII. , and was granted 
by him in the year 1545, to Robert, Archbishop of York, in ex- 
change for the manors of Thirsk and other places. 

The Rectory was next conveyed to John Smith of St. Sepulchre's, 
London, Tailor, by the trustees appointed for the sale of Arch- 
bishop's and Bishop's lands, by deed indented and inrolled in 
Chancery, dated 20th Dec. 1549. 

By deed dated 14th Jan., 1550, the said John Smith, for a no- 
minal consideration, conveyed to Sir John Burgoyne, Knt. and 
Bart., Sir Roger Burgoyne, Knt., and John Burgoyne the younger 
Esq., (son of Sir John), " The said Rectory of Thirsk, with the 
orchard, little croft, foldstead, &c, containing about one acre, then 



THIRSK. 137 

in the occupation of William Ayscough, Esq.; and the Glebe lands 
belonging thereto, amounting to thirty-five acres and one rood." * 

By a Deed Poll of the same date, the said Burgoynes declared 
that the said Rectory, &c, was conveyed to them by the said John 
Smith, by the direction of William Ayscough, Esq., of Osgodly 
Grange, Co. York, in trust for him and his heirs. 

Next appears a Lease from Tobias, Archbishop of York, to 
William Askwith, dated 12th Oct., 1619, for three lives, granted 
in consideration of the surrender of a former Lease for twenty-one 
years, dated the 1st Dec, 1617. 

30th March, 1669, a Lease from Richard, Archbishop of York, 
to William Askwith, Kt. 

21st April, 1681, a Lease from the same to the same. 

16th Aug., 1699, Lease from John, Archbishop of York, to Dame 
Frances Ayscough and eight others. 

By Indenture, dated 26th March, 1715, a moiety of the said 
Rectory was assigned by Sir Walter Hawksworth, Bart., and 
Dame Judith his wife, and Sir Walter Calverley, Bart., to Matthew 
Butterwick of Thirsk, yeoman : and the recitals of this deed state 
that the said Sir William Calverley, by virtue of a decree in 
Chancery, and by certain Indentures of Lease and Release of 5th 
and 6th August, 1712, was seized of the reversion of the said 
Rectory, after the death or marriage of the said Dame Frances 
Ayscough : And that the said Sir W. Calverley, by Deed Poll, 
dated 23rd Sept., 1712, declared that one moiety of the said Rectory 
was in Trust for, and belonged to the said Sir William Hawksworth, 
and the other moiety belonged to Francis Fawkes, Esq. 

The other moiety of the Rectory was conveyed to Matthew 
Butterwick, by the said Francis Fawkes, Esq., and Margaret his 
wife, and Sir V\ r alter Calverley, Bart., by Indenture of May 10, 1715. 

The late Mattew Butterwick, (grandson of the above and son of 
Simon Butterwick), died 17th Jan., 1829, and the Rectory, &c, is 
now vested in Henry Wickham Wickham, Esq., M.P., and Thomas 
Swarbreck, Esq., the Trustees under his will. 

* In the apportionment of the Tithes of Thirsk, the appropriate Glebe Lands were 
estimated at forty acres, by prescription free from tithes great and small. 



138 THE VALE OF MOWBHAY. 

The Tithes of Thirsk, of which H. W. Wickham, and Thomas 
Swarbreck, Esqrs., are the Lessees under the Archbishop of York, 
the appropriator were valued in 1805, at 745Z. Is. 6d. in money. 

The Award commuting the Tithes of the district, comprising 
the whole of the township of Thirsk, except the hamlet of Thorp- 
field in the parish of Thirsk, was made on the 21st day of July, 
1842, by John Job Rawlinson, Barrister-at-Law. The estimated 
quantity in statute measure of all the land subject to the payment 
of tithe, is therein given at 3850a. 3r. 1p., viz : — 



a. 


r. 


P> 




1668 





29 


Arable land. 


1053 


3 





Meadow or pasture. 


61 


2 


2 


Woodland and common. 


43 


2 


34 


Brick yards and gravel pits 


12 








The streets of the town. 



The rent charge apportioned in lieu of the Tithes, was 77U. 

A Supplemental Award was made the 14th Nov., 1843, wherein 
it is stated that an omission was made in the said Award of lands 
subject to Tithes in kind to the Rectory of Kirby Knowle. The 
quantity of land so subject, is estimated at 5a. 2r. 39p., and the 
amount of Rent Charge apportioned thereon 21. 9s. 2d. 

The Society of Friends, next to the Established Church, are the 
oldest religious body in Thirsk. Their meeting house is situated 
in Kirkgate, and was built about the year 1790, to accommodate 
upwards of two hundred individuals ; district, (or monthly meet- 
ings) being held at Thirsk at that time. In 1830, the station was 
annexed to York Monthly Meeting ; and there are now only about 
thirty members resident in the town. 

At the time of the rise of the Society, it appears that Friends 
were very numerous in the district. In 1651, George Fox held a 
Meeting at Borrowby, and a large number of his audience (amongst 
the number the clergyman of the parish), gave in their adhesion 
to the doctrines which he promulgated. In 1677, we find him again 
attending a large meeting, where the Friends from Cleveland 
assembled, together with those of the surrounding district. Four- 
teen Monthly Meetings were established in this county in 1669, 
Thirsk being the head quarters of one of them. Soon after this 



THIRSK. 139 

an extensive emigration to Pennsylvania took place, under the 
auspices of William Penn ; and a large proportion of those who 
were engaged in agriculture flocked to him from this district, to 
avoid the sufferings to which they were subjected for nonatten- 
dance at church, and the harrassing prosecutions instituted against 
them for tithes and other ecclesiastical demands, which they could 
not conscientiously pay. In defence of their testimony in these 
matters, some had incurred the loss of all their property and 
long incarceration in prison. One of the earliest on record is 
James Dunning of Thimbleby, who died in 1661, in York Castle, 
for refusing to pay tithes. 

The Friends have two burial grounds, one in Barbeck, and the 
other behind the meeting house in Kirkgate, both nearly filled 
with graves. In connection with the longevity of Friends, we 
may mention that during the year 1856, Mr. W« Baker was in- 
terred here in his 74th year ; and that his father John Baker, who 
married at the age of seventy, and had six children, attained 
eighty-six years. His grandfather Thomas Baker, who resided on 
a farm at Nugate foot, in Bilsdale, and travelled extensively as 
a preacher, was one of the earliest Friends of the district, and 
was the first person who introduced potatoes into Yorkshire and 
Durham, about the year 1650. In the " Illustrated London News " 
in 1854, there was a notice of a sermon preached by a son of 
this Thomas Baker, to the Friends of Norton Meeting, in which 
he expressed a fear that some of his hearers were like the potatoes 
of the year, " fair at the outside but rotten at the heart ; " and the 
writer inferred from this that the potatoe disease had prevailed at 
the time. 

The Wesley an Methodist Chapel is situated on St. James' Green, 
in Old Thirsk ; it is a large brick building capable of accommo- 
dating more than one thousand hearers. There is a burial ground, 
a house for the minister* and a school room attached. The intro- 
duction of Methodism into Thirsk, was by John Wesley himself, 
who first visited the town Feb. 28th, 1747 ; and regularly after- 
wards in his tours through the country until his death. Between 
April, 1764, and April 29th, 1766, the first Methodist Chapel was 



140 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

built, for in his Journal, under the latter date, he says, " I preached 
at noon in the new house at Thirsk, almost equal to that at Yarm, 
and why not quite, seeing they had the model before their eyes, 
and had nothing to do but copy after it ? Is it not an amazing 
weakness, that when they have the most beautiful pattern before 
them, all builders will affect to mend something ? So theje ne scat 
quoi is lost, and the second building scarcely ever equals the first." * 

The first chapel was of an octagonal shape, and was pulled down 
in 1816, when the present large and elegant building was erected. 
The late Mr. Robert Peat, many years postmaster of Thirsk, who 
died June 21st, 1856, left by his will 100/. to the Methodist 
Society of this town. The organ (by Messrs. Conachar and Brown 
of Iluddcrsfield), was purchased by subscription, in 1857. 

The Independents in the year 1850, built a large chapel at the 
bottom of Finkle Street, near the river Codbeck, with an infant 
school attached. Their former chapel stood near Sowerby Flatts, 
in what was called the back lane, until 1804,f when the chapel 
was built : since then it has been called chapel street. 

The Primitive Methodist Chapel is in Castlegate, near the 
Savings' Bank, and was erected in 1851. Their former place of 
worship in Old Thirsk, is now converted into two cottages. 

Mr. llobert Peat, left 100/. to this society, and also 100/. to the 
British and Foreign School. 

The principal public Schools in Thirsk, besides those attached 
to the respective places of worship, are the Infant's School, and 
the British and Foreign School. 

The Infant's School was established in 1833. The site was 
presented and foundation laid by the late John Bell, Esq., and the 
cost of the building was raised in shares. The school is entirely 
supported by voluntary subscriptions, and amongst the contribu- 
tors all the religious sects are represented. About 40/. is raised 
annually. The affairs of the school are managed by a committee 

• Wesley's Journal, Vol. iii., p. 242. 
t This chapel was opened for public worship, May 24th, 1804. The Independents 
hnd only visited Thirsk about eighteen months before this time, when Messrs. 
Howell and Jackson, the ministers, obtained leave of the lord of the manor, and 
preached in the Tollbooth. 



TIITRSK. 1 1 1 

chosen by the subscribers. The children pny a penny per week, 
and are eligible for admission from two years old to six. During 
last year the average attendance was ninety. 

The British and Foreign School was established in 1841, the 
ground for the site being also presented by the late John Bell, Esq. 
For the erection of the buildings 600/., was subscribed. In this 
school one hundred and forty-four boys and eighty-one girls are at 
present on the register ; and the voluntary subscriptions amount 
to about oOL per annum. The revenue from the children's pence 
amounted in 1856, to 113/. 10s. In addition to this, assistance is 
received from government, who pay the salaries of the pupil 
teachers. The children are received at six years of age and up- 
wards, and pay from threepence to eightpence weekly, according 
to the circumstances of their parents. The premises are very com- 
plete, and with reference to the education furnished, we may quote 
the report of Her Majesty's Inspector, J. S. Laurie, Esq. 

M This school as usual is in excellent order, and a high state of 
efficiency. The master combines great practical skill with un- 
wearied activity. The girls' school is neat, quiet, and orderly. 
The reading is remarkably good, and in other branches fair pro- 
gress has been made." 

Two pupil teachers from this school have obtained Queen's 
Scholarships, and have been appointed to take the charge of other 
schools. 

From these data it will be seen that the educational condition 
of the town is such, that upwards of one in seven of the population 
is under public instruction. 

The Hall, the seat of Frederick Bell, Esquire, lord of the manor 
of Thirsk, is a brick building, almost close to the church. The 
exterior presents no features of particular interest. In the dining 
room are two full-length portraits of the late Ealph Bell, Esq., 
and his wife, painted by Gainsborough, two of the seven * full 

* The other full-length portraits by Gainsborough, are — A portrait in landscape, 
in the Marquis of Hertford's collection, at Manchester House. Mrs. Sheridan and 
Mrs. Tickell, in one picture, in the Dulwich Gallery. A Fisherman, in the private 
dining room at Hampton Court Palace. Two family portraits, pensants, in the dining 
room, Arundel Castle. 



142 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

length portraits which that eminent artist ever painted. These por- 
traits have been frequently valued by connoisseurs at one thousand 
guineas each. There is also a fine painting executed by Mr. 
Fearnerley, of Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, for the late John 
Bell, Esq., M.P. ; representing the leading members of the Lambton 
Hunt, mounted on the favourite hunters of Mr. Bell ; besides the 
portrait of that gentleman, there are those of the late Ralph 
Lambton, Esq., of Merton, County of Durham, (brother to the late 
lord Durham, and master of that hunt), Major Healey of the North 
York Rifles, H. Williamson, Esq., of Sedgfield, (brother to Sir H. 
Williamson, Bart.), and the Rev. John Shafto, besides Winter the 
huntsman and other characters in the back ground. This is con- 
sidered to be the best picture Fearnerley ever painted. 

There is also a small, but select collection of authenticated 
British birds and animals, made by the late John Bell, Esq., among 
which are the Golden Eagle, Aquila Chrysceta, the Sea Eagle, 
the Great Bustard, Otis Tarda, the Purple Heron, genuine 
British and very rare, the White Spoonbill, Platalea Leucorodia, 
the Eagle Owl, Bubo Maximus, the Red Grouse, Lagopus Scoticus, 
the Wild Swan, (a hundred of these birds were offered for sale on 
one market day at York, in the severe winter of 1839) ; the Wild 
Cat, the Buff-breasted Martin, the Otter, &c, &c. There is also 
the skeleton of a horse, prepared by Mr. Veterinary Surgeon 
Holmes, late of Thirsk, now of Beverley, and two eggs of the Red- 
wing, Tardus Iliacas, found in a nest by a beck, at Kildale in 
Cleveland, believed to be about the only nest of this bird ever dis- 
covered in Great Britain ; four eggs were found, the other two 
are in the collection of Captain Turton, 3rd dragoon guards, at 
Kilvington Hall. In the gardens is the curious font, (now con- 
verted into a dial), dug up at Hood Grange. 

At the corner of the street opposite the church gates, formerly 
stood a prison, or house of correction. It was taken down some 
years ago, and the site is now included in the grounds of the hall. 
When it was built we know not, but it was in existence one 
hundred years ago, as we learn from the following entry in the 
parish register of Thirsk. 



THIRSK. 143 

" 1746-7, Mar. 6, Thomas Walker, a prisoner, died." 

Before the House of Correction for the North Riding was built 
at Xorthallerton, the prisoners for that part of the county were 
kept in confinement one quarter of the year at Malton, one at 
Easingwold, one at Thirsk, and the other at Northallerton. The 
site of the prison house (as before observed) is now a shrubbery, 
fish pond, and rural aquarium for fancy poultry, and scarce speci- 
mens of the goose and duck tribes, and bears the singular appel- 
lation of the " Marriage." 

The Mechanics 5 Institute is located in a spacious buildiDg, well 
adapted for the purpose, in Castlegate, near the foot path leading 
to Sowerby. There is a reading room well supplied with news- 
papers and periodicals, committee rooms, and a large room for 
lectures, which will hold about one thousand people. 

The first steps towards the organization of this Institution, were 
taken by a few persons connected with the Temperance movement, 
as a means of inducing young persons to abstain from frequenting 
public houses, and after many preparatory meetings the project was 
fairly set on foot, under the name of " The Thirsk Mechanics' Insti- 
tute and Mutual Improvement Society," on the 12th of June, 1846. 
The objects were to provide a library for circulation ; a reading 
room supplied with newspapers, periodical publications, and works 
of reference ; lectures, or papers on interesting, moral, literary, or 
scientific subjects ; and classes for the cultivation of different 
branches of study. The affairs of the Institution are managed by 
a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Honorary Secretary, and 
two Honorary Librarians. 

On the first formation, the number of members was fifty-four, 
and on the 31st of December following, they had increased to 
one hundred and twenty-one. In 1855 they amounted to one 
hundred and seventy-one, since which time there has been some 
diminution. 

The number of volumes in the library at the commencement, 
was about two hundred ; in 1857, it was five hundred and fifty. 

Sir William P. Gallwey, Bart., M.P., is now President, and 
Joseph Eider, Esq., Vice-President. 



144 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The Thirsk Natural History Society, was formed in 1853, for 
the purpose of organizing and developing the scientific exploration 
of the vicinity. The members meet once a month for consultation, 
discussion, and the exhibition of specimens. The annual sub- 
scription is six shillings, and the entrance fee five shillings. A 
manuscript note book goes the round of the members once a month, 
in which from time to time they record their observations. The 
society possesses a tolerably good microscope and library of refer- 
ence, but does not form any public collection of specimens. Mr. 
John G. Baker is the president. 

The Savings' Bank, first established in 1819, is now held in 
part of a large substantial brick building in Castlegate. In the 
same edifice is a room used for lectures, concerts, and public 
meetings, capable of accommodating one thousand persons. 

There are three banking establishments in the the town, that of 
Messrs. J. Backhouse, and Co. ; a branch of the Yorkshire Banking 
Company, and a branch of the York Union Bank. 

There are many Benefit Societies located in Thirsk, the object 
of which is to provide against a time of sickness, and ensure a 
fund for burial. 

The Odd Fellows hold their Lodge at the Blacksmith's Arms. 
They are numerous, and their finances are in a flourishing condition. 

The Royal Foresters hold their Court at the Red Bear, in the 
Market Place. 

The Union Club holds its meetings at different places. 

The Victoria Society is established at Mr. Brady's, in the Market 
Place. 

The Old Friendly Society is located at the Crown, in the Market 

Place. 

There is a Mutual Benefit Society in connection with Salem 

Chapel, (Independent). 

The Thirsk Poor Law Union, was formed February 21st, 1837, 

and includes forty- one Townships or places,* embracing an area 

* Ainderby Quernhow, Bagby, Balk, Birdforth, Boltby, Carlton Miniott, Catton, 
Cowsby, Dalton, Elmire with Crakehill, Fawdington, Filiskirk, Holme, Howe, 
Hutton Sessay, Kepwick, Kilburn, Kirby Knowle, Kirby Wiske, Knayton with 
Brawith, Maunby, JSewby Wiske, Newsham with Breckenbro', North Kilvington, 



THIIiSK. 145 

of about eighty-five square miles, or more than 60,000 acres ; the 
population in 1841, was 12,728, in 1851 it was only 12,760, of 
whom 6373 were males, and 6387 females. The number of houses 
was 2780. Thirsk elects two guardians, the other townships 
one each. The first chairman of the board, was Joshua Samuel 
Crompton, Esq., the next Mr. Thomas Smith of Thirsk : Frederick 
Bell, Esq., is the present chairman. The assessed value^of the 
union in 1842, was 83,243/. Assessed value to the county rate in 
1847, 98,128/. The building of the "Workhouse was let by con- 
tract, March 3rd, 1838 : finished, 29th of December in the same 
year ; and first occupied by the paupers January 29th, 1839. The 
cost of the Workhouse, including site, title deeds, architect's per 
centage, and all expenditure, was 2202/. 17s. Id. An additional 
cost afterwards incurred for fever wards, drains, and pumps, of 
343/. 8s. 6d., made the total cost of the building 2546/. 6s. Id. 
There is accommodation for 120 paupers in the house. On Jan. 1st, 
1849, there were sixty-five in, and 451 receiving out-door relief 
from the union. The average relief of the poor for three years in 
the district comprised in the union, previous to 1836, was 3952/. 
For three years ending 25th March, 1840, it was 2792/.: for the 
three years ending 25th March, 1843, it was 3054/. 

The total expenditure in 1838, was 3373/. 145. 4d. In 1848, it 
was 3649/. 10s. lOd. 

The average amount of relief for the three years, ending March 
25th, 1858, was 1239/. the half year. The total expenditure for 
the year ending at the same time, was 3771/. 10s., including county 
and police rates, and all other charges. The number receiving 
relief at the end of 1857, was 392. 

Joseph Rider, Esq., was clerk to the guardians from the forma- 
tion of the union until 1851, when he resigned, and was succeeded 
by Robert Hick, Esq., the present clerk. 

The Union is divided into five medical districts, Thirsk, Knayton, 
Topcliffe, Kilburn, and Pickhill. 

Pickhill with Eoxby, Sand Hutton, Sessay, Sinderby, Skipton, South Kilvington, 
South Oterington, Sowerby,Sutton-under-Whitstonecliff, Thirkleby, Thirlby, Thirsk, 
Thornborough, Thornton-le-Moor, Thornton-le-Street, Topcliffe, Upsall. 

K 



146 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

A branch of the County Court of Yorkshire is established here, 
Joseph Rider, Esq., clerk. 

Thirsk is a polling place for the election of knights of the shire 
for the North riding of Yorkshire. 

Petty Sessions for the Wapontake of Birdforth are held here 
every week. The acting magistrates are Lord Greenock, Sir W. P. 
Gallwey, Bart., T. W. Lloyd, Esq., F. Bell, Esq., Capt, Turton, 
and Revds. Messrs. Scott, Higginson, and Hawkins. Clerks, 
Messrs. Allison and Arrowsmith. 

Amongst the punishments formerly in vogue in Thirsk and the 
Vale of Mowbray, was the stocks,* or drunkard's pillory ; they 
may yet be seen broken and disused in many of the villages. The 
ducking stool had also a place amongst the reformatory machinery 
of this town. It was chiefly intended for the punishment of 
scolding women, and consisted of a stool or chair fixed at the end 
of a long pole ; the delinquents were placed on the stool, then let 
down into the water, f 

The Market J held on Monday, is well supplied with corn, butter, 

* The punishment of the stocks is of great antiquity, we find it mentioned in the 
Book of the prophet Jeremiah, chap, xx., v. 1, 2, 3, more than 600 years before Christ. 
It is mentioned in the laws of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver. Aristophanes makes 
mention of something like it in a play written 420 years before Christ. 

It is a singular fact that the great Cardinal Wolsey, 

"that onee trod the ways of glory, 
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour," 
suffered the ignominious punishment of the stocks for being drunk. He was then in- 
cumbent of Lymington, near Yeoval ; it was the fair, or village feast, when Sir 
Amias Paulet, a strict moralist, seeing the minister in liquor ordered him to be put 
in the stocks. — See Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors . 

t In 1623, ifranciscus Jackson et Jo'hes Ingle, constables of Thirsk, are presented 
at the court of the lord of the manor, and fined xvd. each, for not having the ducking 
stool in proper repair (le duckinge stole non repavant). 

i The Market is held by prescription, and is of the most remote antiquity, no doubt 
coeval with the foundation of the Castle. We know that it existed in 1145, as it is 
mentioned in the foundation charter of the Priory of Newburgh of that date. Search 
has been made in the Tower of London and elsewhere, for a charter or grant, but in 
vain. The following extract relative to the market, is from an old paper of the age of 
Elizabeth, which appears to have been a case for the opinion of legal counsel. 

■■ The Lords of ye Market Towne of Thirsk, and who are owners of ye Market 
place and Borrow there, have time without memory of man taken by p'scrip'con all 
manner of Towles of Goods, Chattle, Corne, Butter, and all other things sold in ye 
same, or att ye great ffairs held there, and also all pickage, stallage, and all other 
dewes belonging and accostomed to be paid. 

And ye officers of ye Lord by order from him doe provide measures, shambles, and 



THIRSK. 147 

poultry, eggs, and other necessaries of life; and a considerable 
amount of business is transacted thereat, by dealers from Leeds 
and the manufacturing districts, the farmers attending with their 
produce from a wide extent of country. It would surprise a stranger 
to see the great quantities of fruit which are sometimes exposed 
for sale in this market, especially apples and nuts. 

The Fairs are held on Shrove Monday. April 4th and 5th for 
horned catfle, sheep, leather, &c. Easter Monday for woollen 
cloth, toys, &c. August 4th, and 5th, October 28th, and 29th, for 
sheep, horned cattle, and leather. First Tuesday after December 
11th, for horned cattle, leather, &c* 

all other things convenient for ye Traders that resort unto ye said market and doe 
pave or cawsey ye Corn-Hill, and sweep and keep itt clean and in good repair, and 
all the markett place and all that belongs to them at his and their owne proper costs 
and charges. 

1. Question is whether Charters or Grants from the Crowne exempt any from pay- 
ing ye said Towles, pickage, stallage, but only they and Tennents, expressly named 
in ye said Chart, and Grants, and ye Townes and Granges named therein, and to be 
renewed every King's Reing and shewed." 

Ans. — I conceive they do not if the Queen or any of her progenitors, Kings or 
Queens of England, have granted to any to be discharged of Toll, either gen'ally or 
specially, their grants are good to discharge such granted of all Tolls due to King or 
Queen, due on ffairs or marketts, and of all ye Tolls which any ffair or markett have 
been granted after such grant or discharge. But no such grant can discharge any 
Tolls formerly due to any subject or Lord of mannors or marketts by grant or pre- 
scription, they being prior to such." 

Many other questions are put and answered, relative to the exemption from Tolls 
of certain parties, guilds, and liberties, by charter ; but we have not space to quote 
the whole paper : we give the last query as bearing especially on markets held by 
prescription. 

" Whether Tolls may be taken by all Lords of Marketts and ffairs ? 

Ans. — Toll is not inseparably incident to ffairs and markeits nor's Toll an incident 
to a ffair or markett without grant, but hath its orriginall from ye Crown, or from 
prescription, and I conceive it is better to have ye ffaire or markett and toll by pre- 
scription than by grant for de communo Jure, no Toll shall be paid for things brought 
to ye ffaire or markett, unless they be sold in ancient Fairs and marketts by pre- 
scription Time out of mind used, which none can challenge, yet claim their ffairs and 
marketts being by Grant. That is to say since the Reigne of King Richard ye 1st, 
which is now neare six hundred years ago and ye Toll may be paid for ye standing 
in ye ffaire or markett though nothing be sold, and ye like law for stallage and 
pickage, which is alwayes due to ye Lord of ye soile, though nothing be sold." 

* The tolls payable to the lord of the manor are Id. per foot for stalls, on market 
days, 2d. on fair days, gardeners and ropemakers pay id. for each stall on market 
days, and Sd. on fair days. Butchers Is. Qd. per stall. The toll of corn is one pint 
in the bushel when exposed for sale in the market. Carts with goods for sale pay 2d. 
and baskets Id. each. The rates for cattle on St, James' Green in Old Thirsk, are : 
Beasts, 2d. per head ; bulls, 4d. ; sheep, 8d. per score ; tups, 2d. each, and horses, 
4d. each. 



148 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Thirsk never was a manufacturing town in the extended sense 
of the word, it was most noted for its tanneries and saddlery. 
Many of the former are yet located in and around the parish, 
though the business appears to have declined of late years. The 
saddlery business was very brisk during the wars arising out of 
the French Revolution. The leather manufactured in Thirsk and 
its vicinity yet retains its high character, and is much in request 
by the best saddle and harness makers in London and Edinburgh, 
as well as of Great Britain generally. There are two or three 
rope walks about the town, and a small foundry in Norby. The 
spinning of cotton and the manufacture of tobacco, were intro- 
duced into the town, but never took any permanent root. 

At the Exhibition of the Industry of all nations, held in Hyde 
Park, in 1851, Thirsk had only one representative in Mr. It. 
Baxter, inventor and manufacturer of a pair of walking boots 
with clogs and springs, and a pair of skating boots with springs. 

From the number of names of resiants on the court rolls, in 1624, 
we believe that Thirsk would contain about 850 inhabitants at 
that time ; and in 1744, the population would be about 1850. In 
1801, it was 2092 ; in 1811, 2155; in 1821, 2533; in 1831, 3502; 
in 1841, 3020, and in 1851, 3001. 



CARLTON MINIOTT. 149 



CARLTON-MINIOTT. 



Carlton-Miniott, sometimes called Carlton-Islebeck, is a town- 
ship, village, and Chapelry, in the borough and manor of Thirsk, 
from which it is about two miles distant. 

At the time of the Domesday survey, part of this township was 
a berewick of the manor of Bagby, and contained three carucates 
of land to be taxed.* Ulchel also held under the king, " four caru- 
cates to be taxed, land to two ploughs."! Subsequently it formed 
part of the great Mowbray fee, and was held by a family which 
took its surname from the village. By Inquisition post mortem, 
held in Thirsk, 29th Edward I., A.D. 1300, we find that Walter 
de Carleton held three carucates of land in Carleton and Islebeck, 
as one third part of a knight's fee, worth four pounds per annum. 
The same Walter held three carucates of land in Hoton, as the 
fourth part of a knight's fee, worth four pounds per annum. 

William Norton held one carucate of land in Carleton, as the 
twelfth part of a knight's fee, worth twenty shillings per annum. 

By a similar Inquisition, held A.D. 1326, John Miniot held in 
Charlton, Hyton, and Islebeck, the third part of a knight's fee, 
worth sixty shillings per annum. The appellation Miniott which 
distinguishes this Carlton from others in the neighbourhood, is 
probably derived from the name of this owner. At the same time 
Huco Castelyon held in Carleton, four oxgangs of land, where 
twelve carucates make a knight's fee. 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 197. t Ibid, p. 26. 



150 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The family of Carlton were a long time settled here, one of 
whom William de Carlton, married Elizabeth daughter and heiress 
of Peter de Hoton, and was a benefactor to the nuns of Arden 
Priory, about the year 1405. Afterwards the township was divi- 
ded into smaller portions, held of the lord of the manor of Thirsk, 
by the usual military tenure, (servir' militar') or knight's service. 

By Inquisition post mortem made October 10th, 1623, we find 
that John Clough, late of Sand Hutton, Esq., at the time of his 
decease held of the lord of the manor of Thirsk (p. servir' militar') 
four oxgangs of land in Carlton-Myniot, which at a former inqui- 
sition were held by Christopher Metcalf, late the lands of 

Staveley ; also two other oxgangs of land in Carlton, late held by 
William Atkinson, sometime the lands of William Thornton ; and 
two oxgangs in Saod-hutton, late held by William Thornton, 
sometime the lands of John Newsome. 

By a similar Inquisition, made in 1630, we find that Henry 
Davison, late of Thirsk, at the time of his decease, held of the 
Most Noble James, Lord Strange, lord of the manor of Thirsk, two 
oxgangs of land in Audby Closes, within Carlton-Miniott, by mili- 
tary service, as the five hundreth part of a knight's fee. (Quingen- 
tissimia centissimia p'tm feod. mil.) The annual value is not given. 

The chief proprietors at present are Frederick Bell, Esq., who 
is also lord of the manor, and the Trustees of the late Matthew 
Butterwick, Esq. 

By the regulations which took place on the passing of the 
Reform Bill, Carlton became included in the borough of Thirsk. 

The Station, depot, and warehouses for Thirsk and the neigh- 
bourhood on the main line of the North Eastern Railway, and 
about a mile in length of the line are situate in this township, and 
valued to the poor's rate at 8001. per annum. The Leeds and 
Thirsk branch of the same company runs two miles in another di- 
rection, and is valued at 200/. per annum. 

The Church or Chapel is a little old building, of the simplest 
and most primitive form, nearly enveloped in a mass of ivy: parts 
of it appear of considerable antiquity, but it has no pretensions to 
architectural beauty. 



CARLTOX-MINIOTT. 151 

The living is a perpetual curacy, formerly in the parish of Thirsk, 
but having been augmented by Queen Anne's bounty, has now be- 
come a benefice : patron and impropriator, the Archbishop of York. 
In 1716, it was valued at 41. 12s., and the different sources whence 
that sum was derived are enumerated in the following pathetic 
terrier. 

1st. — " We have a small hutt belonging to the Curate, eight 
yards, wanting one foot in length, and five yards and a half in 
breadth, including a pitefull Eeling, and in height two yards and 
six inches. 

2nd. — Our Chappel yard is forty-three yards in length, and 
thirty-one yards in breadth. All o r Glebe belonging to our Curate, 
is bounded on y e East and North by the Towne Streetes, on y e 
West in part by y e Townes Street and partly by the East end of 
the Dwelling House of John Thwaites. 

3rd. — No Tithe Hay in o r Township, saving of garths and 
grounds inclosed from y e co'mon of Olde, wh ch y e Curate receives 
in kind. But alas ! y e nature of the soil makes such his Tithe In- 
valuable. In Lieu of Hay Tithes from other Meadow ground there 
is a reserved Modus of one Penny p r Oxgang (y e grounds of which 
we know). All small tithes are paid in kind, as Calves, Bees, 
Geese, Turkies, Ducks, &c, including the Tithe of Rape when 
due, as also Broom, &c. But so little of those fall to his share yt 
they rather deserve an Augmentation from xritable Hands y n any 
Estimate otherwise. 

4thly. — No Augmentation, Pension, Sallary, or Stipendary Pay- 
ment do belong our Curacy of Right. Thirty shillings p r annum 
w ch was allowed by y e late Lady Ascough to y e Curate for a Ten 
acre close when Corn, and tithable to the Impropriators, when 
Meadow to the Curate, as inclosed of old from y e co'mon which 
now is untithable to y e Curate being Corn. 

othly. — Mortuaries are paid as limited by Act of Parliament in 
that behalf made. For Easter Reckonings, Every Husband and 
Wife pay 3d. every single p'son 2d., every Tradesman 6d., every 
Servant of what Quality soever Id. p r pound of wages, any and 
every body Id. 



152 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Marriage by Licence 10s., by Publication 5s., whether ye man 
inhabit in or out of y e Parish or Curacy. Burying Fee Is. 6d., 
with a Cake. Registering a Child and Churching y e Woman lid., 
and a Cake. Transferring y e Xwardens Accounts in y e Parish 
Book 6d. For ye Copy of y e Reg r for ye Court 6d." 

Jacob Tireman, Curate. 
Francis Moor. 
Tho. Clough, Sen. 
Henry Fothergill. 
" On July ye 30th, 1716, the Curacy of Carlton-Miniott, alias 
Minion, was estimated and valued before y e Com'sioners for that 
purpose at 4Z. 12s. per annum, upon y e oaths of 

Ric D Nelson and 
Thos. Nelson 
of that Curacy and Township." 

In 1747, the living was augmented with 200?., again in 1761, 
1786, and 1799, with 200/. each time, all by lot. 

The Glebe house was returned in 1818 as unfit for residence, 
being a very small cottage. The return in 1834, stated that there 
was no glebe house. A comfortable parsonage has since been pro- 
vided. The present net value is 103/. per annum. 

The following is the most complete list of the curates of Sand- 
Hutton-cum-Carlton, we have been able to obtain. 

Guy Kemp entered as curate, 'Jan. 3rd, . . . . 1706-7 

Jacob Tlreraan was curate in .. .. .. .. 1716 

Joseph Sommers in . . . . . . . . 1727 

James Castley in . . . . . . . . . . 1733 

James Addison entered as curate, Aug. 7th, .. .. 1743 

Jonathan Holmes, Aug. 5th, . . . . . . . . 1787 

Robert Lascelles .. .. .. .. 1829 

In the year 1834, Carlton and Sand-Hutton were separated, the 
latter benefice being held along with that of Thirsk, and Carlton 
formed into a distinct living. The curates since then have been 

William Dent entered . . . . . . . . 1834 

Edward Jowett, present Incumbent . . . . . . 1843 

The Registers commence January 3rd, 1706-7, and the first 
entry is " Thos., son of Thos. Bell, was baptized January 3rd." 



CARLTON MINIOTT. 



153 



The books are in a good state of preservation, and we extract a 

few memorabilia. 

" 1775, July 19th, Edward Gascoigne of Sand Hutton, hanged 

himself as he came from TopclhTe Fair." 

" 1725, July y e 12, John, son of William Holmes, a Dragoon in 

y e Lord Carpenter's Regiment, and in Colonel Foley's troop, buried 

at Sand Hutton." 

" 1813. Dec. 15, Jane Stainsby, Sand Hutton, aged . . 93." 
" 1814. Oct. 25, Miles Wilson, Carlton, . . „ 92." 

" 1814. Not. 4, Matthew Law, Sand Hutton „ . . 100." 
"1826. Aug. 24, Elizabeth Jackson, Sand Hutton,, 92." 

" 1826. Nov. 20, Mary Dickinson, Carlton . . „ . . 9L" 
" 1844. Oct. 26, James Stainthorp, Carlton „ 90." 

The number of acres in the township, is 1507, and the number 

of inhabitants in 1851, was 319. 



154 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



SAND HUTTOtf. 



Sand Hutton is a pleasant, clean, well built village, about three 
miles west of Thirsk, of which borough it forms a part. 

At the time of the Domesday survey, this village was probably 
in the hands of the king, though it is somewhat difficult to identify 
the twenty-two different Hotunes therein mentioned as existing 
in Yorkshire ; the following entry seems to apply to this place. 

Land of the King in Yorkshire, North Hiding. 

" II. Manors. In Hotune, Three Thanes had six carucates to 
be taxed. Land to two ploughs." * 

A family of the name of Ho ton, subsequently held the greatest 
part of the lands of this township under the Mowbrays as superior 
lords, many of whom were benefactors to the nuns of Arden 
Priory. 

In 1150, Peter de Hoton gave three carucates of land to that 
house, along with the site on which it was built. 

Roger, the son of Roger de Hoton, gave to the same priory, two 
bovates of land near Thirsk, A.D. 1251. 

In the 29th Edward L, A.D. 1300, William Le Gray held the 
manor of Sandhoton as the half of a knight's fee, worth 10/. per 
annum. 

In 1326, William de Thornton held in Hotton one carucate of 
land, worth 13s. 4d. per annum. 

Afterwards the lands were subdivided among many holders, 
who held them of the lord of the manor of Thirsk, by the noble 
tenure of military service. 

The chief proprietors at present are Frederick Bell, Esq., of the 

* Bawd wen's Dom. Boc, p. 27. 



SATsD BUTTON. 155 

Hall, Thirsk, who is also lord of the manor, and T. L. Hodgson, 
Esq., of Highthorn, near Easingwold.* 

In 1630, the following entry appears in the court-rolls of the 
manor of Thirsk, relative to the keeping of geese in this village. 

" A payne laid that the Inhabitants of Sandhooton shall not 
keep above every husbandman two geese, and every girseman or 
cottager one, upon paine to forfltt 5s." 

Was the girse or grass man the occupier of a small portion of 
meadow or pasture land, in contradistinction to the husbandman 
who cultivated the soil ? 

Near the footpath leading from this village to Thirsk, at a point 
. where the three townships of Sand Hutton, Carlton Miniott, and 
Thirsk meet, stands " Sand Hutton Cross," which consists of a 
block of stone as a pedestal about four feet square, and nearly the 
same in thickness : into this is inserted a shaft or pillar of stone, 
about nine inches square, by three feet in height. From its situ- 
ation it is probably a boundary stone ; crosses, from their sacred 
character, in the early ages were frequently employed for that pur- 
pose. The busy tongue of tradition however, reports that at 
some unknown period, the town of Thirsk was ravaged by the 
plague, and the market was held in the open fields, and that this 
cross was erected at that time. 

In 1740, the surveyors of the highways of the township of 
Thirsk, are ordered by the manor court to " repair the foot way 
between Longraine Steel and Sand Hutton Cross, before the 11th 
day of November next, on pain of 3s. 4J." 

• Dr. Phineas Hodgson, Chancellor of York, in 1617, and chaplain to James I., 
was ancestor of Sir Thomas Hodgson, of Barmby Dun, near Doncaster ; whose 
descendant the Rev. Thomas Hodgson, rector of Burlington, was father of the Rev. 
[Nathaniel Hodgson, rector of Ganthorpe and Terrington ; he married Emma, sister 
of Lord Middleton, and had issue, Emma Antonia; and a son and heir Nathaniel 
Bryan Hodgson, Esq., of Sand Hutton Hall, who married Jemima Eleanora, daughter 
and coheiress of Lieut. General Sowerby, R.A. He died Jan., 1821, leaving two 
sons, the present representative of the family, and Henry Charles, a Lieut, in Her 
Majesty's 62nd Regiment, who died in India. 

T. L. Hodgson, Esq., was born Sept. 2lst, 1808, married in Dec, 1838, Mary, 
eldest daughter and coheiress of William Darley, Esq., of Muston, and has issue* 
Kathaniel, born 1842, Charles, Julia, Emma. 

Arms — Per chevron embattled or and sable, three martlets proper, counter-changed. 
Crest — A dove, close, Arg. ; in the beak an olive branch, proper. 



156 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The Church, or Chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small antique 
structure, remarkable only for the primitive simplicity of its form 
and the rudeness of its masonry. It consists of a nave and chancel, 
with a single bell in a low turret at the west end. 

Archbishop Sharpe states that he had been informed that the 
late Sir William Aiskew had left 251. per annum to the Curate of 
Sand Hutton, for serving the cure there.* 

Patron and Impropriator, the Archbishop of York. 

In the Register (which commences simultaneously with that of 
Carlton Miniott) occurs the following memorandum : — 

"That July ye 30th, 1716, ye Curacy of Sand Hutton, in ye 
Parish of Thirsk, in y e North Riding of y e County of Yorke, 
was valued at 3Z. 10s. 2d. per annum, & so attested by y e oathes of 
Ric. Sutton, Francis Burne, both of that Curacy & Township." 

The living, which is held along with that of Thirsk, was aug- 
mented in 1753, again in 1758, 1775, and 1792, with 200/. each 
time — all by lot. Present net value, 94/. per annum. 

We copy the following inscriptions from tombstones in the 
Chapel-yard. — 

u Erected to the Memory of William Hudson, who died March 5th, 
1839, aged 83 years. Also Dinah Hudson, wife of the above, who died 
the same day, March 5th, 1839, aged 85 years. 

It was their wish and desire through life that they should both die 
together, and Providence gratified them, the one dying in the morning, 
the other in the evening." 

" Underneath are deposited the earthly remains of William Bell, for 
many years master of the Free Grammar School of TopclifFe. A man, 
who contented in that station of life in which Providence had placed 
him ; by the simplicity of his manners and the integrity of his heart 
justly acquired the regard and esteem of a wide circle of friends, from 
the memory of whom a long period must elapse ere the remembrance of 
his virtues can be effaced. 

He died the 31st day of July, 1822, in the 56th year of his age." 

An Act of Parliament for the inclosure of the commons and 
waste lands in this township, was obtained in 1792. The award 

* Lawton's Collections, p. 466. 



SAND HUTTON. 157 

was made March 4th, 1841, by Thomas Scott, Esq., of Oulston, 
(to whom Henry Scott, of the same place, acted as valuer). The 
total quantity of land allotted and enclosed was 82 acres and 33 
perches, comprised in eight open arable township fields called 
"Great Kelland Field, Smiddy Field, Near Butts, Far Butts, 
Sandhills, Howe Hill, Outcrofts, and Little Kelland Field." 

The Township comprises 1294 acres of land, and in 1851 pos- 
sessed a population of 305 souls. 

At the point where the road from Ripon to Thirsk crosses that 
from Topcliffe to Northallerton, near this Tillage, stands a public 
house called " Busby Stoop," which derives its name from a gibbet 
post or stoop having stood there, whereon a man named Busby in 
1702 expiated the crime of murder. It is generally said that a 
person of the name of Daniel Autie, corrupted into Dan. Auty or 
Dannoty, who resided at a farm house now called Dannoty Hall, 
was a manufacturer of counterfeit coin, and had apartments in his 
house fitted up for carrying on such business secretly. Busby 
having married his daughter, became privy to, and assisted his 
father-in-law in his unlawful practices ; and at length wished to 
have the whole business to himself, to which the old man not being 
agreeable, a quarrel arose betwixt them, when Busby murdered 
Autie, for which he was tried, convicted, and hung in chains at 
the cross roads, near the place which yet retains his name. Not 
a vestige of the gibbet post exists, nor has done in the memory of 
11 the oldest inhabitant"* : the name alone remains to tell, 

" A melancholy tale, to give 
An awful warning." 

This punishment, which to the credit of humanity has entirely 



• Ralph Thoresby the antiquary saw Busby hung£upon the gibbet in 1703, as is 
manifest by the following extract from his diary : — 

M May 17. Along the banks of Swale are the very pleasant gardens of Sir William 
Robinson, lately lord mayor of York, but a few miles after a more doleful object of 
Mr. Busby hanging in chains, for the murder of his father-in-law, Daniel Auty, 
formerly a Leeds clothier, who having too little honesty to balance his skill in en- 
graving, &c, was generally suspected for coining, and other indirect ways of attain- 
ing that estate which was the occasion of his death, even within sight of his own 
house.'' 



158 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

passed away, was very common in the seventeenth and the begin- 
ning" of the eighteenth century. The bones of the poor wretch 
who had committed murder, were hung to fester in the sunshine, 
and bleach in the tempest until they fell piecemeal to earth ; and 
tradition yet tells awful tales of night wanderers being terrified 
when passing those dreaded spots. 



SOWERBY. lo9 



SOWERBY. 



So WEBBY* is an open, well built Tillage, half a mile from Thirsk. 
of which it forms a respectable suburb. The gravel walk leading 
to it across the Flatts is a pleasant promenade, and a great favourite 
with the inhabitants, as it commands fine views of the country to 
the east, terminated by the Hambleton Hills, whose airy summits 
varying with the changing sky, close the prospect with a splendid 
picture of mountain scenery. 

This village bears in its name evidence of its Danish origin, the 
syllable "by," in that language signifying originally a single 
estate or farm, afterwards a town or village. The names of places 
ending in " by," are only to be found in the districts selected by 
the Danes for conquest or colonization. f 

The notice] of this village in Domesday Book is exceedingly 
meagre. " Lands of the king in Yorkshire. In Sorebi, Orm had 
two carucates to be taxed, land to one plough." Afterwards among 
the " Clamores de Eurevicscire Nort Triding," we find " In Sorebi 
the king has Jive carucates. The other three are entered under 
the head of Easingwold, as belonging to the soke of that manor.J 

* Written at different times Sorebi, Sourebie, Sourby, Soureby. " I know not how 
to give a better etymology of this name than by supposing it to have meant the Seur- 
bye Csecurus vicusj in modern English, the safe habitation or settlement." Watson's 
Hist, of Halifax. There are only nine places in England named Sowerby, of which 
six are in Yorkshire. 

+ Worsaae's Danes in England, p. 72. 

X Bawdwen's Dom. Boc. p.p. 26, 9, 267. 



160 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Soon afterwards along with the whole neighbourhood, it be- 
came part of the fee of Robert Mowbray, earl of Northumberland.* 

The family of Lascells f held possessions in this village at a very 
early period. William de Lascells dom. de Soureby temp. John, 
had two sons, Ralph and William. 

Ralph de Lascells, Knt. of Soureby, was father of 

William de Lascells, Knt. of Soureby, intalliavit Terras suas, 
Ano. xi., regis Edw. I. He had William, Thomas, Isabella. 

William de Lascells, Knt. of Soureby, married Lucia, daughter 
of Sir John Lythgraynes, Knt., by whom he had issue, William, 
whose wife's name was Margaret, he died without issue, and 

John succeeded his father, and was father of 

William de Lascells, Knt. of Soureby, father of 

William de Lascells, Knt. of Soureby, father of 

William de Lascells, of Soureby, who married Elizabeth daugh- 
ter of Sir Robert Dan by, Knt., and had issue, 

John de Lascells of Soureby, father of 

Robert de Lascells of Soureby, who married 1st, Catherine 

daughter of Tempest, and had issue, Robert. He married 

2nd, Margaret, daughter of Christopher Coigners of Sokebourne, 
Knt., by whom he had a daughter, Margaret married to Thomas 
de Middleton. 

Robert de Lascelles of Soureby, married Alconora, second 
daughter of Sir Richard Coigners, Knt. of Cowton, by whom he 
had one son, Roger, and three daughters. 

Sir Roger de Lascells of Breckenburgh, Knt., married Margaret 
daughter of Sir John Norton, Knt., and had issue Christopher, 
Maria, and Margaret. 

Christopher Lascells of Breckenburgh, Esq., represented Thirsk 
in parliament, from 1555 to 1571. He married Anna, daughter 



• 29th Edward I., William de Vescy de Kildare, held of the heirs of Mowbray, 
the villas of Soureby and Brakenboro', as one and a half knight's fee, worth xxxj. 
per annum. 

+ Thomas de Lascells granted to the canons of Newburgh, (with his body) the 
third part of the town of Sowerby, containing three carucates of land and four 
ox gangs. 



SOWERBY. 161 

of Kichard Sigiswick of Walburne, by whom he had issue four 
sons and four daughters. 

Francis Lasscells of Breckenburgh, Esq., married Anna daughter 
of William Thwaytes of Marston, Esq., by whom he had five sons 
and five daughters. 

Thomas Lascells of Breckenburgh, Esq., afterwards Sir Thomas, 
married Jane, daughter of William Malorie of Studley, Esq., by 
whom he had two sons and two daughters. He was high sheriff 
of Yorkshire, 39th of Elizabeth, and was one of the council of the 
presidency of the north, at York, in 1598. 

Camden speaks of Soureby and' Brakenbak, belonging to the 
truly ancient and hono arable family of Lascells. By an Inden- 
ture of assignment, bearing date the first day of October, 42nd 
Elizabeth, the leasehold premises in the township of Sowerby 
were assigned by Sir Thomas Lascells, Knt., and William Lascells 
his son and heir apparent, to the family of Meynell of North 
Kilvington, for the term of two thousand years, subject to a small 
annual rent, or an acknowledgment paid in money and hens at the 
feast of St. Michael the Bishop, in winter. The respective owners 
now pay sixpence in lieu of each hen. 

Thomas Lascells died in 1619, and William his son became 
possessed of the manor and castle of Breckenburgh, which he held 
until 1624, when he disposed of it to Arthur Ingram, Esq. He 
married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Tunstall, of Thursland 
Castle in Lancashire, by whom he had Francis his eldest son, and 
seven others, with one daughter. 

Francis Lasscells, Esq., settled at Northallerton, and the family 
ceased to have any connection with this village or neighbourhood.* 

One of the members of this family of Lascells was executed at 
York, about the year 1642, for the " crime of popery." He was 
the eldest son of Christopher Lockwood, Esq., of Sowerby, by N. 
Lascells his wife. He was apprehended at W r ood End, at the 
house of Mrs. Catenby, a widow, by some pursuivants from Thirsk, 
whose leader was Cuthbert Langdale, f a man whose name is 

* See Ingledew's Northallerton, p. 315. 
| This tool of oppression died in 1669, as appears by the following- entry in the 

L 



162 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

handed to posterity with deserved infamy. Many circumstances 
of cruelty are related of his apprehension and conveyance to York 
Castle, where he was condemned and executed April 13th, 1642. 

The sheriff who attended the execution, was Sir Richard Hutton, 
of Goldshrough, Knt." * 

Burtonf speaks of Thomas de Lascels giving free passage through 
his moor of Soureby, for carriages, &c, belonging to the monks of 
Byland Abbey, which William de Lascels confirmed. 

Tanner in his Notitia Monastica, (Newburgh Priory) mentions 
lands belonging to that monastery in " Soareby et Brakenburgh," 
and again in " Novoburgo et Soareby." 

The site of the mansion of the family of Lascelles is supposed, 
and with reason, to be occupied by a modern farm house situated 
to the south-east of the church, which yet bears the name of the 
manor farm house. Some elms of large growth, which may have 
sheltered the old manorial hall yet remain. 

The township of Sowerby forms part of the original parish of 
Thirsk, although it is now, for all civil and ecclesiastical purposes 
an entirely separate district and parish. 

The living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Archbishop of 
York. The Chapel, along with the mother church of Thirsk, was 
given by Roger de Mowbray to the Prior and Canons of New- 
burgh. On the dissolution of the religious houses, it came into 
the hands of King Henry VIII., and was by him in the 36th year 
of his reign given in exchange, to the archbishop of York. 

Prom a parliamentary survey taken in the 31st of Henry VIII., 
it appears that the curate of Sowerby is entitled to the tithes of 
lambs, wool, turnips, potatoes, rape, geese, ducks, hens, and all 
manner of tithes whatsoever, except the tithes of hay and corn, 
and likewise of hay growing upon certain lands in the said town- 
ship of Sowerby. 

The certified value of the living in Liber Regis is 14Z. 



parish register of Thirsk. " 1669. February 7th, Elizabeth the wife of Cudbert 

Lang-dill bur." " March 4, Cudbert Langdill was buried." 

• Jefferson's Hist, of Thirsk, p. 79, 80. 
t Mon. Ebor., p. 336. 



SOWERBY. 163 

In the Terrier of 1716, we find the following account of the 
state and value of the benefice at that time. — " We have belonging 
to our curacy a dwelling house eleven yards long and six wide. 
A barn and stable together ten yards long and five wide. A croft 
about an acre. An acre and a half of arable land lying on the 
south side of Sowerby field. Prior close coDtaining two acres and 
one rood, y e chapel yard about half an acre. For mortuaries 10s., 
marriages 2s. 6a 7 ., churchings 7 a 7 ., burials, if coffined Is., if not Id. 
Y e tithes of all the garths when corn, and the tithe of rape, hemp, 
and Line, 2d. a peck. Every house a hen or 6a 7 . 2d. apiece 
offerings. Eggs Id. Plough Id. Bees Id. a swarm. Fole 2d. 
Each cow renew d lid. Y e tithe of orchards. A modus for hay of 
Is. 4a 7 . per farm, whereof there are twenty in the township." 

In 1735. " All small tithes are due to the curate, except wool 
and lamb. A modus is paid in lieu of hay tithe, for a whole sand- 
holme 8a 7 ., a woodfield Sd., a street-field 6d., a new close 4a 7 ., a 
westmoor close 2d., a croft 2d., Mr. Kitchenman's mill holme Sd. 
Sir Thomas Frankland, for his enclosed lands and parks, pays a 
composition or Modus of 20s. yearly for hay tithe." 

In 1760, the value of the living is given thus : — 

£ s. d. 

Glebe land about three acres rented yearly at . . . . 3 2 

Easter and Michaelmas dues amount to 9 10 

Moduses for pasturage, meadow, &c, 18 6 



Total 14 6 



Chris. Place Minister. 

The Terrier of 1786, mentions the following benefaction : — 
" Mr. George Wright, late of the City of York, Gent., by his last 
will and testament bequeathed the sum of 200Z. to the cm-ate of 
Sowerby, for performing divine service on Wednesday and Friday 
in every week. Also 200/. of Queen Ann's bounty money, which 
hath been lately laid out in land lying near Thornton-le-Beans, 
in the parish of North Otterington, now let at the yearly rent of 
9Z. 6s. per year. 

" In the church one silver cup weighing five ounces. Three small 
bells. No money in stock for the repair of the chapel, or writings 



164 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

concerning the same. The township repairs the church yard fence, 
which is built with bricks adjoining the town street, and a quick 
wood edge adjoins the parson's croft. The clerk is appointed by 
the inhabitants who also officiates as sexton, for which he is paid 
by the inhabitants. 

"The total of the yearly rents of the glebe lands, moduses, and 
easter offerings due to the curate, 26/." 

In the year 1798, an Act of Parliament was passed for enclosing 
the open town fields of Sowerby, nearly the whole of which was 
converted from arable into grass land, and the inhabitants would 
only pay a penny per acre as a modus for the same. 

In 1809, the total of the yearly rents, glebe lands, and Easter 
offerings due to the curate are returned at 148/. 

In 1817, the Terrier gives the value of the benefice from all 
sources at 120/. The present net income is 310/. per annum. 

The Church, dedicated to St. Oswald, is partly ancient, and was 
restored and enlarged in 1841, whereby greatly increased accom- 
modation was provided for the parishioners. It consists of a tower 
containing three bells at the west end, heightened in 1841 ; a nave, 
partly ancient ; a transept and chancel, new. The south doorway 
of the nave has a fine Anglo Norman arch, adorned with beaked 
heads in low relief, and chevron mouldings, which may be sup- 
posed coeval with the first erection of a church here. The Nor- 
man style is preserved throughout the building. The windows 
are all new, mostly of two lights. The interior of the transept is 
supported by semi-circular arches. The columns are short round 
shafts, rising above massive bases, terminated with Norman 
capitals. The font stands in the centre of the transept, and shews 
great beauty of design and workmanship, resting on five slender 
pillars ; around the base are the letters M. Jp. $1 , 1841, being 
the initials of Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart., at whose cost 
it was made. The east window of the chancel is of two lights, 
the mullion and sides adorned with slender shafts. It is filled 
with stained glass, of chaste design and singular beauty : at the 
bottom is inscribed, 

i#atrte qutnq', £ilm': opu* 3L et «. ©♦ S. % ». 1841. 



SOWERBY. 165 

The letters are the initials of Lady Frankland Russell and her five 
daughters. 

The free sittings are open stalls, the others have low doors. 

The principal inscriptions in the church are on tablets against 
the walls — on the east side of the transept is one to the 

Memory of Thomas Milburn, of Thorpe Field, who died May 2nd, 
1839, aged 55. 

On a stone on the floor — 

John Richardson, 28th August, 1774, aged 81 years. 
John Seavers Richardson, 14th April, 1834, aged 64 years. 
On the west wall of the transept — 

Cornelius Caley, Esq., Feb. 10th, 1836, aged 72 years. 
Also Sarah his widow, October 21st, 1846, aged 83 years. 

A slab on the floor bears — 
Richard Staines Armiger, qui obijt 28 Jan., Anno Dom. 1704, JE 55. 

The inscription on another sepulchral slab is obliterated, with 
the exception of the single word " Hie." 

On the south wall of the nave are tablets to the memory of 

Jane Marcella, widow of the late Colonel Brooke of Scholes, near 
Wetherby, she died June 12th, 1823, in the 77th year of her age. 
Francis Vavasour, died 14th July, 1797, aged 34 years. 

Against the north wall — 

Caroline Frances Strangwayes, only child of Captain Thomas and 
Elizabeth Strangwayes, who died at Sowerby, July 26th, 1831, aged 
12 years. 

Ann the wife of John Brooke, Esq., of Austhorpe Lodge in the county 
of York, born April 16th, 1759, died 4th April, 1812, aged 52. 

Of early testamentary burials within this church, we only find 
two in Torre's MSS. 

11 Wm. Lassells of Sourby, juxta Threske, Esq., made his will, proved 
9th March, 1446, giving his soul to God Alm'ty. and his body to be 
buried in the chappel of St. Oswald of Sourby. " 

" Ric. Lassells of Sowerby, Gent., made his will, proved 15th April, 
1472, giving his soul to God Alm't y . and All Saints ; and his body to be 
buried in the chappell of Sowerby/' 

Over the arch leading into the basement of the tower, is an in- 
scription recording the enlargement and renovation of the church 
in 1841 and 1842, by which means 233 additional sittings were 



166 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

obtained, and in consequence of a grant from the Incorporated 
Society for promoting the enlargement, building, and repairing of 
Churches and Chapels, 117 of that number were declared free and 
unappropriated for ever. Previous to the alteration the number 
of sittings was 180, of which 100 were free. 

The charities are not numerous, consisting principally of a be- 
quest by the will of John Dinmore, dated 26th March, 1693, of 
the rent of la. lr. of land, to be distributed in coals among four 
of the poorest families or householders, and George Wright's rent 
charge of one pound per annum, by will dated 17th March, 1721, 
to be distributed in coals. 

The Registers commence — marriages and burials in 1569, and 
baptisms in 1585. The earlier entries are imperfect and much 
mutilated. During the period of the Commonwealth several 
instances occur of marriages performed by a Justice of the peace, 
and the names of two individuals are recorded as having officiated 
in that capacity — " Wm. Ayscough," and "Robert Walter." Ralph 
Husthwaite appears to have acted as Registrar on the different 
occasions. 

The following is a specimen of one of these entries : — 
" Osgoodby, May 26th 1656. 

A marriage between Leonard Stapleton of Sutton, on the one 

part, and Elizabeth Bell of Sowerby, on the other part, was the 

particular day and year aforesaid, solemnized in the presence of 

Christopher Bell, George Bosomworth, Richard Bell, Henry Mas- 

terman, Richard Trueman, William Danby, and Ralph Husthwaite, 

as witnesses thereof, before me, 

W. Ayscough." 

Below is a list of the incumbents of Sowerby, as far as can be 
ascertained from the register books.* 

* 1569. John Ridsdale. 1662. Mr. Blenkill. 

1589. Jeremiah Wray. 1663. Matthew Henlocke. 

1604. John Willyamson. 1667. Josiah Daubeney. 

1610. Henry Jefferey. 1669. Elias Hodgson. 

1613. James Nicholson. 1687. Thomas Barker. 

1634. Peter Jackson. * * * • 

1639. Adam Mannering. 1754. Christopher Place. 

1660. William Morrill. 1770. Jos. Atkinson. 



SOWERBY. 167 

To the south-east of the village, near the river Codbeck, is a 
tumulus, popularly called " pudding pye hill ;" the origin of which 
had long been a disputed point, some affirming it to be the remains 
of a watch tower pertaining to the Castle of Thirsk,* others main- 
taining its sepulchral character. This dispute was finally set at 
rest in August, 1855, when Lady Frankland Russell the owner, 
employed a number of men, under the superintendence of Mr. 
James Ruddock of Pickering, to excavate the hill. They began 
by making a cutting directly across it, aiming at the centre ; they 
had not proceeded far before they came to a place of interment, 
where lay parts of a skeleton reposing north and south : some 
portions of the skull and one jaw were sound, but the remainder 
were so much decayed that they could not be preserved. Further 
excavation disclosed the place of another interment, about four 
feet long, two broad, and one foot six inches deep, filled with 
charcoal and burnt bones, along with fragments of pottery. About 
two feet north of the last, more ashes, a broken urn, and three 
coins were found. In the centre of the barrow, about sixteen feet 
from the top of the mound, and nearly level with the natural sur- 
face, was found the skeleton of a warrior, apparently of more than 
ordinary size ; his legs and arms were crossed ; his shield had 
rested on his breast, the central boss of which remained, with the 
rivets which had held it to the wood ; by his right side lay the 
handle of a sword ; so that he had probably been buried in full 

1774. Daniel Addison. 1826. Wm. Dent, M.A. 

1800. Edward Greenwood. 1843. Samuel Coates, M.A., P. Incumb't. 

1821. Wm. Wilkinson, M.A. 

* Among these was Jefferson the historian of Thirsk, who says, p. 36, " About 
the time Thirsk Castle was built, there was erected a small watch tower at Sowerby." 
*'The mount near Sowerby, on which this watch tower was erected is yet remaining-; 
though some have taken it for a sepulchral tumulus, raised by the Danes after a 
battle, as human bones have been dug out at its foot." Again, p. 172, "Half a 
dozen copper coins were harrowed up on the Avest side of the watch tower mount, 
near Sowerby, about twenty years ago." (1802). Thus it appears that the discovery 
of bones and coins in and about this hill in 1855, had little novelty in it, as others 
had previously been found. 

The popular legend is — that this hill was raised by the Fairies, who had their resi- 
dence within ; and if any person should run nine times round it, and then stick a 
knife into the centre of the top, then place their ear to the ground, they would hear 
the Fairies conversing inside. 



168 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

dress, with all his arms and accoutrements. Two more skeletons 
were discovered, one at about the same depth as the last, the other 
four feet deeper, near them were numerous fragments of pottery 
and some cows' horns. 

From the relics found, and the size of the hill, this has probably 
been the burial place of a family or clan of Saxons, in the fifth or 
sixth century. The warlike leader was first buried and the mound 
raised over him, and the other bodies interred afterwards at 
different times. If the bulk of the mound indicated the quality 
of the warrior buried beneath, he must have been a person of no 
small consequence who found his last resting place here ; for it is 
of more than ordinary bulk, the circumference at the base being 
not less than 160 yards, and its depth to the level of the natural 
surface sixteen feet. The soil of which it is composed is of a clayey 
kind intermixed with gravel : most of it appears to have been ob- 
tained between the hill and the river Codbeck. The excavations 
have been filled up, and the hill possesses much the appearance it 
had before they were made. 

A Roman road from York to the north, by way of Easingwold, 
Thirsk, and Northallerton, passed almost close to this hill, near 
which a branch struck off in a north-westerly direction, crossing 
Sowerby Field towards Carlton Miniott ; it is yet known by the 
name of Sangsty, or Saxy way. 

Most of the professional gentlemen of Thirsk have houses in 
Sowerby, many of them neat little villas, which gives this village 
quite an aristocratic air. The Thirsk Building Society, during 
the last few years, has contributed much towards its enlargement 
and embellishment, by the erection of many good houses ; and in 
a few years more, the distance between Thirsk and Sowerby will 
disappear and the whole form one town. 

Of the principal houses, is one for a long time belonging to the 
family of Bell, but now the property of Thomas Swarbreck, Esq. 
This gentleman is the first of the name who settled in this neigh- 
bourhood, but the family is of considerable note and antiquity in 
the adjoining county of Lancaster, one member of which was be- 



SO WERE Y. 169 

headed for refusing to abjure the Catholic faith during the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. 

Next in importance is the mansion of C. Cayley, Esq., a gentle- 
man largely engaged in the Russian trade. 

William Lambert, Esq., a surgeon, who served in the Royal 
Foot Guards during the Peninsular campaigns, settled in Thirsk 
as a surgeon and apothecary, and after amassing a comfortable 
competence, retired to this village, where he ended his days in 
peace in 1857, at a very advanced age. 

Sowerby is included in the parliamentary borough of Thirsk, 
and contains 2262 acres of valuable land. The population has 
kept steadily increasing. In 1811, it was returned at 685 ; in 1821, 
at 748 ; in 1831, at 756 ; in 1841, at 957 ; and in 1851, at 1079. 



170 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



BAGBY. 



Bagby is a long, straggling village, situated on a rising ground, 
about three miles south-east of Thirsk, now included in the limits 
of the borough. It is a township and chapelry in the parish of 
Kirby Knowle, from which it is seven miles distant. 

Lady Frankland Russell of Thirkleby Park, is now owner of 
the greatest part of the lands in the township. At the time of the 
Domesday Survey, Bagby formed part of the fee of Hugh the son 
of Baldric, and was then a place of considerable importance, the 
head of a large manor with many dependent berewicks. 

" Manor. In Bagebi, Orm had five carucates of land to be taxed. 
There is land to two ploughs and a half. Hugh has now there 
half a plough, and four villanes with one plough, and ten acres of 
meadow. Wood pasture half a mile long and the same broad. 
The whole manor one mile long and the same broad. Value in 
king Edward's time eight pounds, now forty shillings. 

Berewicks. These belong to Baghebi, Chirchebi, (Kirkby 
Knowle) three carucates, Carlton, three carucates,* Islebec one 
carucate, Sudtune (Sutton) one carucate, Ardene (Arden) three 
carucates, Chipuic (Kepwick) one carucate. To be taxed together 
twelve carucates of land. Land to six ploughs. There are now 
there two villanes and one bordar with one plough. And there is 

* Measurements, &c, in Domesday Book — Carucate, an uncertain measure, 
generally about 100 acres. Plough land, the same as a carucate — Villanes, slaves, 
bondmen — Bordars, boors, or husbandmen, holding a little house, with some land of 
husbandry, bigger than a cottage — Mile, or Leuca, in Domesday is 1000 paces — 
Quarenten, an uncertain measure, generally translated furlong. 



BAGBY. 171 

a priest. Wood pasture five miles long, and five quarentens broad. 
The whole nine miles and a half long and three miles and a half 
broad.* 

From the above entry it appears that Bagby was a place of much 
more importance formerly than at present ; Kirby Knowle seems 
then to have been a dependence upon it, now they have changed 
places, and Kirby Knowle is the head. Here was a priest, when 
none of the villages (not even Thirsk) in the neighbourhood were 
possessed of one, which is sufficiently indicative of its importance. 
As this priest is mentioned amongst the Berewicks, he might be 
at Kirby Knowle. 

The gigantic fee of the Mowbrays soon swallowed up all minor 
proprietors, and Bagby became a part of their vast domains. 

An hospital for sick and poor persons existed here about the 
year 1200; apparently dependent upon the greater hospital of St. 
Leonard at York ; to which house Gundrea the wife of Nigel de 
Albini had given, several years before, four oxgangs of land in this 
townf. 

Emma daughter of Gikel de Al vert on, granted to the hospital of 
St. Leonards, all the nine garbs of her land in Baggeby, besides 
twenty acres of land on the south side of Herdeberdesyke, in a 
certain essart against Baggeby. 

, The site of the hospital can yet be traced in a field west of the 
village, by a platform of soil covered with grass of a darker green 
than any other part of the field, and raised about three feet above 
the ordinary level, forming an unequal square of about forty- five 
by thirty yards. A farm house about half a mile distant, bears 
the name of " Spittal Hill." 

In the 29th of Edward L, A.D. 1300, John de Blayby, held of 
the heirs of Roger de Mowbray, the manor of Baggeby, as the 
fourth part of a knight's fee, worth 4/. per annum. 

In 1624, the following entry occurs in the court-rolls of the 
manor of Thirsk, relative to the purity of the water of Bagby : 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 197. 
t Dugdale's Mon. Aug., Vol. vi. p. 780. 



172 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

" That noe Inhabitant in Bagby, shall from henceforth wash any 
clothes or yarne, or any other fowle thinge in the well at Bagby, 
called Cobbyn Kell, on payne of ev'y one soe offending xxis." 

Though no mention of a church is made in Domesday, yet from 
the existence of a priest at that time, we may infer that a church 
of some kind also existed here. However that may be, it soon 
fell under the jurisdiction of Kirby Knowle. 

By a licence from William Archbishop of York, dated at Cawood, 
June oth, 1345, the inhabitants of the village of Bagby in the 
parish of " Kyrkby Underknolle," in consideration of their dis- 
tance from the parish church, and the badness of the roads, are 
allowed to bury their dead in their own chapel and the " cemeterio" 
belonging to the same, without prejudice however to the rights of 
the rectors of the parish church, to whom all tenths and oblations, 
real as well as personal, are to be paid as usual. And also all 
mortuaries (whether living or dead) of those who die in the said 
village of Bagby, shall be carried to Kyrkby and there left at the 
rector's house. And that they (the inhabitants of Bagby) shall 
repair their part of the fence of the church yard and of the body 
of the church. And that they shall likewise contribute their share 
towards the repairing or renewing of the other ornaments be- 
longing to the said parish church, as often as there shall be 
occasion. 

And the rector and his successors agree to appoint (as they think 
fit), a chaplain, to serve in the said chapel of Bagby, which 
chaplain, twice in the week (on Monday and Friday) shall cele- 
brate mass in the chapel of St. Giles's in Brenkhalhow-gate in the 
town of Thirsk, according as they had been celebrated in the time 
of John, (then rector) and his predecessors, notwithstanding any 
opposition made by the inhabitants of Bagby. The rectors of 
Kirkby Knowle, had also reserved to them the right to dispose of 
the trees and grass growing in the church yard of Bagby. It 
was also agreed that should the inhabitants of Bagby withhold 
from the parochial church any of its dues, it should be lawful for 
the rector to withdraw from the said chapel, the chaplain and 
right of sepulture, then allowed them; until such time as the 



3AGBY. 173 

inhabitants of Bagby should make fitting satisfaction to the rector 
of the parish church of Kirkby Knowle. 

The living, from the returns made, appears to be very poor. In 
Bacons's Liber Regis, the certified value is 10s., and in 1707, the 
same. 

The Chapel stands about the middle of the village, on the north 
side of the street. The outside presents no indications of antiquity ; 
the tower is of brick, and was rebuilt in 1751, when John Wind 
was rector of the parish. It contains two bells, one inscribed Deo 
Gloria, 1723 ; the other Invoco Deum, 1723 ; and the initials of 
the churchwardens. The porch is quite modern, and the outside 
of the nave and chancel covered with whitewash. There is no 
east window. The roof is slated, which with other repairs was 
done in 1825. The only distinction between nave and chancel is, 
that the roof of the latter is a little lower than the former. A 
piscina in the south wall of the chancel is the only indication of 
antiquity about this humble structure. 

Against the north wall on a tablet, is the following incription : — 

Near this place lyeth the body of John, the beloved child of John 
Wright, Gent., of this Parish, and Arabella, daughter of Leonard Smelt, 
Esquire, of the parish of Kirby Fleetham. This infant dear to his 
parents was born on 7th of September, 1711, and departed this life on 
the 19th of December, 1714. Happy child waiting for the resurrection 
of the just, to receive his wages without his pains ! Soli Deo Gloria. 

The Registers are in good condition, and the first page of the 
first book is thus inscribed : — 

" The Register book of the Chappie of Bagby, dependent upon 
the Parish Church of Kirk-by-Knowle of Dioc s . of Yorke, begon 
in the yeare of the Lorde, 1556, wherein the name and surnames 
of all that from thenceforth shallbe baptised, wedded, and buried, 
together with the day and yeare on which every such person 
shallbe baptised, wedded or buryed, as followeth." 

First baptism — 

" Roberte the sonne of Roberte Gammell, was baptised the 19 
day of October, Ao. Dmn. 1556." 

First burial — 

" Willm. Toulton, obijt quinto die Octobris, Ao. Dmy. 1557." 



174 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

First Carriage — 

" John Morrell and Margaret his wife, were married seventh of 
November, Ao. Dy. 1559." 

The first book ends in April, 1639. 

During the commonwealth, when marriages were performed 
before the civil magistrate, the style of the register alters, and 
certificates similar to those given under Thirsk and Sowerby occur. 
There are eleven of them, all signed by Wm. Ayscough, of Osgodby. 

" 1678, Mrs. Jane Jackson, sepulta fuit vicessimo nona die 
Octobris. 

The above named Mrs. Jane Jackson, was buried the day and 
yeare above writen, in woollen, according to the late Acte of Par- 
liament. And affidavit was made before Sir Metcalfe Robinson, 
Barronet, within the time limited in the said Act of Parliament." 

All the burials recorded until the end of 1695, are said to be in 
woollen, and the entries similar to the above, excepting that many 
of the affidavits have been made before Sir Robert Frankland, Bt. 

The charitable benefactions recorded on a board in the chapel, 
are the following : — 

" James Williamson, rector of Bagby, left by will, dated 1667, 
20Z. ; the freeholders subscribed 51. more, which is at interest in 
the turnpike road leading from North Allerton to Burton- Stone, 
near York. 

Thomas Kitchenman, by will, dated Sept. 24th, 1713, left 2/. to 
the poor of Bagby and Balk, to be paid out of lands at Beeston, 
near Leeds. 

Robert Ward of York, July 2nd, 1767, left the interest of 33/. 

John Watson Woodcock, left to the poor widows of Bagby, the 
interest of 20/. 

Ten shillings are annually paid out of a close belonging to 
Ralph Bell, Esq!, called Broad Close, in the township of Bagby." 

The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel in this village. The 
Hall, formerly belonging to a family of the name of Wright, is 
now converted into a farm house. 

Bagby was the birth place of Richard Dobbes, son of Robert 
Dobbes, who from an humble station in life, by persevering in- 



BAGBY. 175 

dustry rose to opulence, and was ranked among the first citizens 
of London. In 1543, he was appointed sheriff of that city, and 
in 1551, was elected to the high office of Lord Mayor.* He was 
buried in the church of St. Margaret, Moyses, where a monument 
was erected to his memory. 

A parish school is established in this village : there is no endow- 
ment, but twelve children of poor parishioners belonging to Bagby 
or Balk, are taught free of charge ; 12/. being subscribed annually 
for this purpose by Lady Frankland Russell and other landowners. 
The school at present numbers 50 children. The master occupies 
a part of the Parsonage House and a small garden rent free. The 
school house also belongs to the parsonage, and is the property of 
the Rector. 

In 1851, this township contained 337 inhabitants, and according 
to the tithe commutation, the chapelry extended over an area of 
2544 acres, as follows : — 

BAGBY. 







a. 


r. 


P. 








Arable Land 


• • 


677 


2 


7 








Meadow 


• • 


322 


2 


3 








Pasture 


• • . • 


417 





36 


a. 


r. 












P- 


Total 










1417 


1 


6 


East and West Balk 


.. .. 


. . 


. 


. 


750 








Islebeck .. . 


• • • ■ 


., 


.. 




377 








Total Chapelry 


2544 


1 


6 



• Stowe's Survey of London. 



176 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



SOUTH KILVINGTON. 



South Kilvington is a pleasant rural village, about a mile north 
of Thirsk, on the road leading to Yarm. It is the head of a parish, 
which includes within its limits the townships of Thornbrough 
and Upsall. The river Codbeck runs behind the village, and forms 
the western boundary of the parish : the southern is Whitelass-beck, 
and the northern Spittle-beck. The land is of superior quality, 
the greatest part of it being meadow and pasture. 

At the time of the Domesday survey it was waste, and was thus 
returned. " Land of the Earl of Morton. In Chilvinctune, and 
Upsall, and Hundulfthorp. Waltef had one manor of eleven caru- 
cates to be taxed. And there may be six ploughs. It is waste. 
In Upsale three villanes have one plough, Richard has it of the 
Earl. Wood and plain one mile and a half long, and the same 
broad." * 

The earl of Morton was one of the Norman chiefs, who came 
over with the Conqueror, and received 793 manors and lordships 
in England, of which 180 were in Yorkshire, as his share of the 
spoils of the conquest. His real name was Eobert de Burgh. He 
was son of Harlowen de Burgh, by Arlotta his wife, mother of 
William the Conqueror, so he was half brother to the king. 

Waltef, the occupier of the waste manor, was evidently from his 
name a Saxon, and perhaps condescended to hold from another, 

" Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 76. 



SOUTH KILVIXGTON. 177 

what had once been his own. He also occupied North Kilvington 
under the same Robert, earl of Morton. 

Soon after this period we find Kilvington, with much of the 
surrounding country, in possession of Robert Mowbray, earl of 
Northumberland, as chief lord. 

In 1277,* the town of Kilvington contained five carucates of 
land, whereof the church was endowed with five oxgangs, and the 
prior of Newburgh held six oxgangs more. The residue was held 
of the heirs of Baldwin Wake, who held them of Roger de 
Mowbray, and he of the King in capite. The town answered for 
one knight's fee. 

In 1345, John de Kilvington was keeper of the lands which be- 
longed to the king's enemies between the rivers Ouse and Tees. 

The church yet retains its oxgangs of glebe land, but the rest of 
the township has long been divided into small freeholds. The old 
manorial rights have ceased to exist, and Baldwin Wake, and his 
superior lord de Mowbray, are without a real representative in 
Kilvington. The Trustees of the late Sir Matthew Dodsworth, 
Bart., of Watlass, are nominally lords of the manor, in right of a 
farm called the Manor House Farm, but no courts are held at pre- 
sent nor have been for many years past, and the old rights and 
regalities attached thereto have fallen into abeyance, or become 
extinct. In 1637, when Sir Arthur Ingram of Breckenbrough, 
was lord of the manor, courts were regularly held, and the worthy 
knight was not disposed tamely to yield his rights : as in that year 
he appears as plaintiff in the manor court of Thirsk, against 
William Theakston, for 3s. 4d., " per am' ciamts in Cur. de South 
Kilvington. William Fairburne, 6s. 8d. for the like, Francis 
Greggs, 3s. 4 d. for the like. John Flynt, 19s. 10c?. for divers 
amerceaments. Ric'us Raper, 13s. 4 d. for the like, and Francis 
Dunynge, 3s. 4J. for the like." The other principal proprietors 
besides the rector and lord of the manor, are John P. Allinson, 
Esq., and Mr. Christopher Thompson. 

The village has a clean and respectable appearance, the air is 

* Kirkby's Inquest. 



178 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

pure and the prospect of plain and mountain scenery towards the 
east varied and beautiful. 

The Church is a small antique building situate on an eminence 
in the centre of the village, consisting of a nave and chancel, with 
a modern bell turret upon the west gable. The windows are 
chiefly of two lights each, with trefoil heads, and a quatrefoil 
above. The east window is of three lights, with three quatrefoils 
in the sweep of the arch. A small window on the south side of 
the nave, about six inches wide, has a semicircular head, and is 
splayed in the inside. In the west wail is a small niche with a 
trefoil head, where, probably at some period, a statue of the patron 
saint (Wilfrid) has stood. The interior of this unpretending fabric 
preserves much of the simplicity of ancient days ; many of the 
sittings are open stalls of oak, strong and massive. In the wall 
near the south door, yet remains the holy water stoup.* A flat, 
modern ceiling hides the roof. A pointed arch divides the chancel 
from the nave, the columns which support it appear only like 
capitals rising from a thick wall. On a small shelf near the pulpit 
the hour glass has stood, in the age when sermons were measured 
by time. The south wall of the chancel yet retains the piscina, 
the outlet of which is filled with whitewash. On the altar table 
stands an antique brazen alms dish, with an inscription in raised 
capital letters. The east window contains two shields of arms in 
stained glass, one of them, argent a cross sable has been referred 
to the family of Upsall, the other remains unappropriated. The 
great curiosity of this church is the font, which is an octagon, 
forty-two inches in height, the bowl is twenty-five inches in 
diameter, and of ample capacity for baptism by immersion. Around 
the base of the stem is inscribed in bold relief : 

3Sng* ®i)omag U jccrop tt lEltsafatf) uxor ctug* 

On the eight compartments around the bowl are sculptured nine 
shields of arms. — " The first shield is Scrope of Upsall, with a label 

* The holy water stones were filled with fresh water every Sunday morning by the 
bell ringers, or servitors of the church, and a monk consecrated it early in the 
morning before divine service. 



SOUTH KILVINGTON. 179 

of three as a younger son of the house of Bolton : the second and 
third are Scrope also ; the second quartering Wanton. The fourth 
is Scrope, impaling a lion rampant with two tails ; which may he 
Cressy, Sutton of Warsop, or Lord Wells's. The fifth is Chaworth 
quartering Statham. The sixth is Scrope in a horder, which ap- 
pears to he composed of the bearing of Wanton. The seventh is 
Scrope quartering Chaworth, and Scrope quartering Eitzwilliam. 
The eighth is Scrope quartering Wanton, with another shield of 
arms, probably that of Redman. 

It may be added, that this font much resembles in shape and 
sculpture, yet of a better design, the font at Bolton, of which a 
representation is given at p. 106, of Dr. Whitaker's " History of 
Craven." * 

The tradition is that the font was removed to its present situa- 
tion from the chapel of the Scropes in Upsall Castle. Be this as 
it may, we have no doubt that it was made at the cost of a Thomas 
lord Scrope of Upsall, whose wife's name was Elizabeth, and this 
will best apply to Thomas the sixth lord Scrope, whose wife was 
Elizabeth Neville. He died in 1494 ; from which data an idea may 
be formed as to the age of the font. 

The inscriptions within the church are not many, mostly on 
tablets against the walls : we give a short abstract — 

" John Green B.D., 18 years rector of this parish, died Sept. 3rd, 
1825, in the 72nd year of his age." 

" Rev. Mr. Robert Piper, Rector of this place, died Jan. 22nd, 1776, 
aged 72. Also Ann his widow, April 24th, 1782, aged 62." 
" Franciscus Henson, 1808, ^Etatis 72." 
" Elizabetha, Vidua ejus obiit 1820, JEtatis 58." 

"The Rev. Robert Jefferson, D.D., eight years rector of this parish, 
died Jan. 31st, 1834, aged 51 years." 

"Mary Henson buried Jan. 18th, 1782, and Henrietta Knowsley, 
daughter of the Rev. John Knowsley, have memorials on the floor of the 
chancel." 

The testamentary burials in the church recorded in Torre's 
MSS., are the following : — , 

* Archseologia, Vol. xvi. 



180 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

"14 Sept., 1481. 
John Morland, late rector of the parish church of Kilvington, 
made his will, proved 14 July, 1481, giving his soul to God 
Almighty, St. Mary, and all Saints, and his "body to be buried in 
the quire of South Kilvington." 

" 23 Aug., 1572. 
John Preston, parson of S. Kilvington, made his will, proved 1 1 
Nov., 1572, giving his soul to God Almighty, his Creator and Re- 
deemer, and his body to be buried in the queare of the church of 
Kilvington." 

" 10 Decern. 1494. 
William Oglethorpe, made his will, proved 15 April, 1597, giving 
his soul to God Almighty, his Creator and Redeemer, and his body 
to be buried in the queare of the church of South Kilvington." 

" 16 March, 1615. 
John Man, CI. Hector of S. Kilvington, dying, administration of 
his goods was granted to Margaret Man his relict." 

" 10 April, 1516. 
Richard Thwaytes of Kilvington, made his will, proved 4th May, 
1516, giving his soul to God Almighty, St. Mary, and All Saints, 
and his body to be buried in the parish church of Kilvington." 

" 16 May, 1618. 
Win. Collingwood, M.A., parson of the Parish Church of Kilving- 
ton, made his will, proved 6th Nov., 1618, giving his soul to God 
Almighty, and his body to be decently buried." 

The following list of the Rectors of this Church is partly from 
Torre's MSS., and partly from the parish registers. 
Presented by the de Upsalls of Upsall. 

II Kal. Jan., 1297. . . Dom. Ric. de Rokesburgh, CI. 

II Kal. Oct., 1298 Dom. Peter de Insula. 

2 Id. Mar., 1303. .. Dom. Tho. de Waddyley. 

30 — Oct., 1315 Dom. Joh. de Scargill Pbr. 

4 Id. July, 1328. .. Dom. Job., de Aldburgh. 
14 Kal. Dec, 1329 Dom. Nic. Darel. 

13 — May, 1349. . . Dom. Roger Greatehede, als. Ric. de ColdwellPbr. 

Presented by the Lords Scrope of Upsall and Masham. 

24 Dec, 1369 , . . . Dom. Will. Wolftonton. 

16 Dec, 1391 Dom. Will. Hufe. 

14 Mar., 1394 Dom. Will. Aliie Pbr. 



SOUTH KILVINGTON. 181 

Dom. Joh. Kyng Pbr. 

20 Mar., 1431 . Will. Swetyng Pbr. 

28 April, 1437 Dom. Rob. Forster Pbr. 

20 Nov., 1442 Dom. Joh. Morland Cap. 

. John Rand Pbr. 

28 April, 1495 . Galfrid Scrope. 

Dom. Bryan Bene Pbr. 

14 June, 1537, Christopher Tipladie, Presented by Sir James Strangways, Kt. 

14 June, 1537, Will. Atkinson. ) These two names are given in Torre's MSS., 

12 Aug., 1537, Joh. Atkinson. i probably they were only Curates. 

11 Feb., 1559, John Preston, Presented by Leonard Dacres, Esq., on the natural 
death of Christ. Tipladie. This name is not in Torre. He died in 1572, and was 
buried in the chancel of Kilvington Church. 

23 Feb., 1572, William Packet, Clk., collated by the Archbishop of York, by 
reason of lapse in the patronage. 

16 March, 1599, John Man, Clk,, on presentation of Marmaduke "Wilson, **de 
Tunfolde in com. Ebor, Gent., Executoribus et Assignatus suis per W 7 m. Cecil Ar., 
filiu et heredem honorandi viri Thome Cecill Militis, D'ni. Burghley." 

19 March, 1615, William Collingwode, M.A., on the presentation of Thomas 
Tankerd de Branton Ar. 
June 29, 1618, John Bramhall, M.A., Thomas Tankerd, Esq., patron. 

Bramhall is the most noted in the long list of the rectors of this 
parish. He was born at Pontefract, about the year 1593 ; received 
his school education at the place of his birth, and subsequently at 
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, w r here he was admitted in 1 608. 
In 1623, he had a public disputation at Northallerton, with a sec- 
ular priest and a Jesuit, which gained him great reputation, and 
brought him to the notice of Archbishop Matthews, who made him 
his chaplain, and gave him the living of St. Martin's, Micklegate, 
York : he was also a prebendary of the churches of York and 
Bipon. In 1630, he took the degree of D.D. ; in 1633, resigned 
the rectory of South Kilvington, and all his other English prefer- 
ments, to accompany his patron the Earl of Strafford into Ireland, 
who in the same year promoted him to the bishopric of Derry. 

He was a man of energy and talent, well known in high quarters, 
and his promotion in the church was very rapid. Indeed Bramhall 
appears to have applied himself with about the same zeal in 
Ireland, as Laud was then exhibiting in England, for the increase 
of the wealth and power of the clergy. On the 4th of March, 
1640-1, he was impeached by the Irish House of Commons, and 
in consequence imprisoned; but after some time, through the 
king's interference, set at liberty, without any public acquittal. 



182 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

He subsequhntly returned to England, and after the ruin of the 
king's affairs at the battle of Marston Moor, July 2nd, 1644, went 
into exile with the Marquis of Newcastle and many of the nobility. 
He went first to Hamburgh, and afterwards to Brussels. It was 
during his exile in 1647, that he took part in the celebrated con- 
troversy with Hobbes the philosopher, about Liberty and Necessity. 
Hobbes supported the doctrine of predestination, founded on the 
absolute power and irresistible will of God. On the subject of Free 
Agency, Bramhall is thought by some readers to have the advan- 
tage over his acute antagonist. He also composed a number of 
tracts in defence of the Church of England, and against Popery. 
Granger in his " Biographical History of England," says, he was 
one of the most able, learned, and active prelates of his age. Arch- 
bishop Sharp in a letter to Thoresby the antiquary, dated Sept. 
7th, 1708, speaking of Bramhall, says, " He was one of the most 
learned divines of the age, and none ever better defended the 
Church of England against papists, fanatics, and Hobbists, than 
he did." 

At the restoration of Charles II., Bramhall returned home, and 
as a reward for his merits and sufferings, was made Archbishop of 
Armagh, and metropolitan of all Ireland. He died by a stroke of 
palsy, in 1663. His works were published in one volume folio, in 
1677 ; the most curious and valuable of which is a tract, entitled 
" The Catching of the Leviathan," which contains his strongest 
arguments on the doctrine of Free Agency, against the necessi- 
tarian Hobbes. 

During his abode at Kilvington, he had two sons born, as ap- 
pears from the following entries in the parish register : — 

" Anno Domini, 1619, Jacobi 17<>. 

Johannis filius Johannis Bramhall, Clerk, Nat. Aug. 4o bap. Aug. 11." 

" Anno Dni. f ; 1620, Regis Jacobi 18<>- 

Thomas [filius Johannis Bramhall, natus die domina. Feb. undecimo, baptizatus 

dieFebr. 15o." 

In the Register " Postea Archiep'us Armachanus," is added to 
the name of Bramhall. He wrote a small, cramped, bad hand, 
with many flourishes, frequently running one line into another. 
During his time the register has been very irregularly kept ; there 



SOUTH KILYINGTON. 183 

is an omission of marriages from 1621 to 1628, a space being left 
for them. In burials an omission occurs from 1620 to 1626. In 
1626, baptisms are left out. Under 1617, rector Collingwood's last 
year, these words in Bramhall's writing occur. — " Sequentia hec 
nomina usque ad Willelmi Kilvington omisa vel amissa incura, 
collecta et adjecta sunt per Johanem Bramhall, Clerk." The 
register is a mere jumble of names during the whole time he was 
rector ; some of the entries are made in black, some in blue, and 
others in red ink ; many are without date except the year. 

12 Oct., 1633, Edward Thuresby, M.A., was presented by Francis Barker of 
Topcliffe Manor, in com. Ebor. Hesigned in 1638. 

4 May, 1638, Elias Hutchinson, M.A:, was presented by William Lee the elder, 
of the city of York, gentleman. He was buried Mar. 25, 1679. 

10 June, 1679, John Lee, B.A., patron Thomas Lee. Resigned 1714. 

7 May, 1714, William Cuthbert, B.D., Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, pre- 
sented for the first time. The patronage is yet possessed by the Master and Fellows of 
that College. Rector Cuthbert was buried May 28th, 1717. 

12 June, 1717, William Chambre, B.D., buried March 24th, 1727. 

26 Aug., 1728, Thomas Harrison, B.D. 

1745, Robert Piper, B.D., buried Jan. 25th, 1776. 

1776, Francis Henson, B.D., buried Dec. 27th, 1807. 

1808, John Green, B.D., buried Sept. 5th, 1825. 

1825, Robert Jefferson, B.D., buried Feb. 6th, 1834. 

1834, Francis Henson, B.D., present rector. 

By a singular coincidence in college patronage, when the livings 
vacant are somewhat better in value than a fellowship, the present 
rector was presented by the Master and Fellows of Sidney Sussex 
College, of which he had been some years a tutor and senior fellow, 
to the same living of which his father had been incumbent for 
nearly 33 years. 

The living is an ancient rectory, valued in the taxation of Pope 
Nicholas IV., about 1292, at 161. 13s. 4d. per annum in the Nova 
Tax, 1318, at 6/. 13s. 4c?., shewing a great decrease in value in so 
short a time, owing principally to the wasteful incursions of the 
Scots. In Bacon's Liber Regis, it is entered in the following 
manner : — 

"Kings Books 17* 10s. \0d. Yearly tenths ML 15s. Id. Kel- 
vington, alias Belvington, alias South Kilvington, It. (St. Wilfrid), 
Syn. and prox. lis. 6d., Val. in manse cum quatuor bovat. terr. 
un. cotag. in Upsal, un. cotag. in Thornbarght, and quatuor cotag. 



184 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

in Kilvington, per ann. 21. 14s., &c, Sidney College, Cambridge." 

The cottages in Upsall and Thornbrough were sold many years 
ago by the patrons of the living, to redeem the land tax charged 
on the glebe ; 97£. which remained over were paid in an exchange 
between some land which was inconveniently situated, and some 
other which laid near the rectory. 

In 1834, the living was returned as worth 51 II. per annum. 
The present annual value is 5551., exclusive of the rectory, and 
seven acres of glebe land. N 

The Rectory is a neat and commodious building, situated on a 
pleasant eminence a short distance east of the church ; it was re- 
built about thirty years ago. The present rector has done much 
to improve the glebe premises, by the removal of old unsightly 
buildings and the erection of others more convenient and substan- 
tial in their room ; having expended a very considerable sum in 
improving an estate in which he has only a life interest, without 
charging any thing on the living. 

The Register books commence in 1572 ; on the first page of the 
first book is written. — " Memorandum, that in pursuance of the di- 
rections of the Rubric, in the Communion Service, it was ordered by 
Dr. Audley, Chancellor to His Grace the L d Arch Bp of York, at 
the Visitation held on June 26th, 1722, that the money collected 
at the Offertory in this parish should be disposed of amongst the 
poor of the Parish in general, without regarding the town they 
belong to, and not be divided according to the proportion that 
each Town pays to the Church rates, as the Churchwardens of 
Upsall and Thornbrough did require. x 

Wm. Chambre, Rect." 

Many of the names on the first pages of the register are yet 
borne by inhabitants of the parish, so that if necessary their pedi- 
gree might be traced in an unbroken line. From the extreme old 
age of many persons recorded in the register we may infer that 
the air of this parish is favourable to health and longevity. There 
is now living in the village a man named Edward Bosomworth, 
nearly ninety years of age, formerly a travelling hawker, an early 
riser, can read well, and yet sings in the church. He has a most 



£ 


s. 


d. 


1712 


5 





621 


13 





1292 


10 





3625 


8 






SOUTH KILVINGTON. 185 

extraordinary memory, and remembers the death of Mr. Piper, 
rector, who died veiy suddenly, Jan. 20th, 1776, more than eighty 
years ago. He says there were formerly four houses in the parish 
called " light houses," two on the village green, one in Thorn- 
brough, and one in Upsall, which had to provide lights for the 
church on festivals, &c. He also remembers a woman doing pen- 
ance for calling her neighbour ill names. 

The township of South Kilvington, contains 982 acres of land, 
and in 1851, a population of 278 souls. The rateable value of the 
parish for relief of the poor and other purposes, is — 

South Kilvington . . 

Thornbrough 

Upsall 

Total .. 

Thornbrough, formerly written Thornbergh, and Thornbargh, 
(at the time of the Domesday Survey called Hundulfthorpe*), is a 
township in the parish of South Kilvington, to the rectory of 
which it paid great and small tithes, until the commutation. It 
is divided into two large farms, and belongs to John Young, and 
Charles Henry Cook, Esqrs., and a tannery and two closes of land 
belonging to Mr. Christopher Thompson. (A small portion of the 
glebe land of South Kilvington lies in this township). About a 
century ago the manor of Thornbrough f as it is called in deeds of 

* It appears impossible to account for this change of names, or to reconcile them 
with each other; the modern one being the more ancient of the two ; " brough," 
and " thorpe," might be easily reconciled, but we can see no affinity between 
" Hundulf," and "Thorn.'' We referred this point to the learned Anglo-Saxon 
scholar, Thomas Wright, Esq., F.R.?. ; who with that urbanity which so distin- 
guishes him, immediately wrote us as follows : — 

" I apprehend that the origin of the names of the places is this — The original Saxon 
name of the place was probably Thornborough — borough, not meaning necessarily a 
town, but simply a walled residence. In the Danish period I suppose, some chief 
named Hundulf having become possessed of the land, it was called from him Hundulf 
— thorpe, or Hundulf 's village or Hamlet. Thorpe was quite as good an Anglo- 
Saxon name as a Scandinavian one. I presume as Hundulf became forgotten, the 
peasantry returned to the old name of Thornborough. The two names have certainly 
no connection with one another." 

t Thornbrough pays a fee farm rent of 20d. per annum for ever, to the lord of the 
manor of Upsall, with that trivial exception the land is freehold. 



186 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

that date, was a joint property subsequently divided by Act of 
Parliament. The Tannery was erected by the father of the present 
owner, (who had obtained a lease of, and afterwards purchased, the 
land on which it stands), about the year 1763 ; since which time a 
flourishing business has been carried on. The river Codbeck di- 
vides this estate from the township of Thirsk on the west. (This 
river, in former times, was a favourite resort of the Otter hunter, 
and the field where the tannery stands, is called the Otter-close). 
A small brook called Thornbrough beck, or Spittle beck, divides 
it from the tovmship of North Kilvington. (This brook, as well 
as the Codbeck, abounds with delicate trout and eels). The town- 
ships of South Kilvington and Upsall form the boundaries on the 
south and east. The land is generally of good quality, and well 
cultivated. One large field called " The Lord's Ing," was a much 
frequented place in the olden time when football was in vogue, 
and players came from far. It is related that once in a hard fought 
game, when the fun was " fast and furious," a player was acci- 
dentally killed on the spot, but Sir George Grey, and the rural 
police were not in being then, no enquiries were made, and he was 
quietly buried, without even a " Crown er's quest." 

From many parts of this township there are beautiful views of 
the Hambleton Hills, and surrounding country, especially down 
the Vale of Mowbray. 

Thornbrough House, now the residence of Mr. John Sadler, 
nearly 300 years ago was occupied by a family of the name of 
Dale. The first entry in the parish register belongs to them. 

" Baptisms, 1572, Will, (son) of Brian Dale (Th.) Aug. 10°-" 
" 1574, James of Roger Dale (Th.) July 23<>." 

The Carters appear to have succeeded the Dales, or rather to 
have lived contemporaneously with them. The following entry 
in the parish register forms one connecting link between them. 

" 1608, Matthew Carter et firancesca Daile Nupti., Nov. 24<>-" 

A few pages further among the burials, we find the following 
remarkable entry — 

" 1666, Matthew Carter de Thornbrough Sep., Nov. 8°. in the 
112 yeare of his age." 



SOUTH KILYINGTON. 187 

It would be in vain to look in the register for the date of his 
birth, as he was born before that record existed ; in 1554, he 
was married at the mature age of 54. Five years afterwards he 
had a son born, who was duly taken to the parish church and 
baptized. 

" 1613, William films Matthsei Carter baptizatus erat Augusti 
15o." 

"1616, Ffanciscus filius Matthaei Carter, baptizatus eratFeb- 
ruarri 19°- " 

Six years after her husband's death, his widow departed this 
life, 64 years from the time of her marriage. 

" 1672, firances the Relict of Matthew Carter of Thorn, b. 
Feb. lo. " 

The rare old man to live so long ! he would be contemporary 
with Henry Jenkins, the oldest Englishman on record. What 
important changes took place during the life time of this man ! 
living during the reigns of six sovereigns of England ; — in the 
dark days of Queen Mary, in the triumphant age of Elizabeth, — 
the degrading rule of the first James, — the troublous times of the 
first Charles ; — the iron sway of the crownless ruler Cromwell ; — 
and dying of old age in the sixth year of the second Charles. 
Some of the most important events in English history took place 
in his time. The reformation completed, the great revolution of 
the seventeenth century began and ended, the wars of the English 
republic fought, and the exiled Charles restored to the throne of 
his forefathers. All recollection of him appears to have perished 
and the parish register is the only record of his existence. 

" No farther seek his merits to disclose, 

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode." 



188 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



THIEKLEBY. 



Thirkleby * is a Village 4 miles from Thirsk, situated on both 
sides of a small rivulet, which, divides it into two parts called 
High and Low, which, together, form the parish of Thirklebys- 
Ambo, which contains about 1800 acres of land, and, in 1851, a 
population of 300 souls. 

Before the Norman Conquest this village, along with the manor 
of Coxwold, formed part of the possessions of Copsi,f who in 
Turchilsbi, had eight carucates of land to be taxed. J After the 
conquest it came into possession of Hugh the son of Baldric ;|| 
and from the increased value of the whole manor from 61. in king 
Edward's time, to 12/. at the time of the Domesday Survey, we 



* Written sometimes " Turgilebi," " Turchilsbi," " Turkelby," " Thirksby," 
and, as it is commonly pronounced, " Thirtleby." The name, like many others in 
the neighbourhood, is evidently of Danish origin, and derived from Thorkil or Thir- 
kil, a personal appellative, and " bi " a town or village — the village of Thirkil. There 
are two other places in Yorkshire also named Thirkleby, both in the East Riding. 

" t Copsi, or Kopsig, was probably the tyrant chief whom the Saxons drove out of 
F orthumbria, along with their Earl Tosti, in 1065, but who afterwards returned with 
the Conqueror, and was by him installed governor of the country between the rivers 
Tyne and Tees. His returning in the train of the Conqueror will also account for 
the flourishing state of his former possessions, which appear to have been untouched 
when nearly every place around was laid in ruin. 

t Bawd wen's Dom. Boc, p. 196. 

|] The Norman owner, Hugh the son of Baldric, had large possessions in this 
neighbourhood. The historians of that time call him Hugues son of Baudry. He 
was viscount, or governor of the City of York, along with Guillaume Malet, when 
that important fortress was first besieged by the Saxons, A.D. 1069. 



THIRKLEBY. 189 

may safely infer that it had not suffered in the devastation in- 
flicted by the Conqueror on the Vale of Mowbray. 

Soon afterwards, this village became part of the immense terri- 
tory of Robert de Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, and was 
held as a sub-fee by the family of de Bussey. 

From Kirkby's Inquest, A.D. 1277, we find that in Thirkleby 
were three carucates of land held of Oliver de Bussey, who held 
them of Roger de Mowbray, and he of the king in capite, by 5s. 
rent. The whole answering for the fourth part of a knight's fee. 
29th Ed. I., A.D. 1300, William de Busci held of the heirs of Mow- 
bray the manor of Thirkleby, with the villages of Osgateby and 
Ackow, as one knight's fee, worth xxs. per annum. 

In the 1st of Edward III., A.D. 1326, John de Wauton held of 
the heirs of Mowbray in Thirkleby and Osgateby, one knight's 
fee worth 100s. per annum. 

The ancient and honourable family of Frankland has been set- 
tled at Thirkleby more than 250 years. This family is of consi- 
derable antiquity in Yorkshire, in which they were seated and 
possessed of lands soon after the conquest, at Ickeringill in the 
parish of Skipton. Many old deeds yet exist in which are found 
the names of Julian, Sigga, Gilbert, William, and Robert Frank- 
land or Francland. In the reign of Elizabeth, 

William Frankland, of Thirkleby, Esq., married Lucy, daughter 
of Sir Henry Botler of Hatfield Woodhouse, in the county of Herts. 
She died May 17th, 1639, at the age of 57. William Frankland, 
Esq., was the first of the name who represented the borough of 
Thirsk in parliament, for which Town he was elected in 1628, and 
again in 1640. 

Sir Henry Frankland, Knt., was the next owner of Thirkleby. 

Sir William Frankland, Knt., son of Sir Henry, born in 1638, 
married Arabella, daughter of the Honourable Henry Belasyse, 
eldest son of Thomas Viscount Fauconbergh, by whom he had 
nine children, of whom four died young, and five survived : — 

Thomas . Henry, Clerk of the Peace for the North 

Riding of Yorkshire, who died in 1736, unmarried. William. 
John, Dean of Gloucester, Master of Sidney College, Cambridge, 



190 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

promoted to the Deanery of Ely April 25th, 1729; and Grace, 
married to Leonard Smelt, Esq. Sir William represented Thirsk 
in three parliaments ; and was created a Baronet by king Charles 
II., Dec. 24th, 1660. He died August 2nd, 1697. His lady died 
Feb. 6th, 1687, aged 50. 

Sir Thomas Erankland, Bart., succeeded to the family honours. 
He married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Sir John Russell, 
Bart., of Chippenham in the County of Cambridge, by Frances, 
the Lord Protector's youngest daughter. 

The issue of this marriage was seven sons and three daughters. 

Thomas, his successor. 

William, F.A.S., who was made a page to Queen Mary at the 
lie volution. 

John, who died in his youth, at Hamburgh. 

Henry, of Mattersea in Nottinghamshire. He married Mary, 
daughter of Alexander Cross, Merchant, by whom he had six sons, 
of whom Charles Henry and Thomas, became baronets. 

Richard, educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, D.C.L. He 
was a Commissioner of the Salt Office, and Comptroller of the 
Penny Post many years. Died September 21st, 1761. 

Frederick, a barrister-at-law, who was M.P. for Thirsk in two 
parliaments. 

Robert, who was supercargo of his brother's ship from Calcutta 
to the Persian Gulf. After finishing his trading voyage., and 
being ready to return to Bengal, the natives rose and murdered 
him and all the other Europeans at Judda. 

The daughters were Frances, married to Roger Talbot, Esq., of 
Woodend, near Thirsk ; Mary, wife of Thomas Worsley, Esq., of 
Hovingham ; and Arabella, who died unmarried. 

Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., succeeded his father, and was a 
person of considerable importance at that time and much employed 
by government. The borough of Thirsk returned him one of its 
members in five successive parliaments. 

He married Dinah daughter and heiress of Francis Topham, 
Esq., of Agglethorp Hall, by whom he had two daughters; Betty, 
married to John Morley Trevor, Esq., and Dinah, countess of 



THIRKLEBY. 191 

George Henry Lee, Earl of Lichfield. This was a most memorable 
alliance, as the countess was descended in the fourth degree from 
Oliver Cromwell, and the Earl in the same degree from King 

Charles I. Sir Thomas married secondly, Sarah, daughter of 

Moseley, of Worcestershire, by whom he had one son who died an 
infant. Sir Thomas died in March, 1747, and the title of baronet 
failing in the elder branch for want of male issue, it descended to 
Sir Charles Henry Frankland, Bart., son of Henry Frankland of 
Mattersea, Esq. This baronet was for many years collector of His 
Majesty's customs for the port of Boston in North America ; he 
was afterwards Consul-general to Portugal, and was buried for an 
hour under ruins in the great earthquake at Lisbon, Nov. 1st, 1755, 
but fortunately survived. He returned to England, and died at 
Bath, after a long illness, Jan. 11th, 1768. He married Miss 
Agnes Brown of New England, who accompanied him to Lisbon, 
and was with him there at the time of the earthquake. She after- 
wards from her seat at Boston observed the battle of Bunker's Hill. 
As Sir Charles Henry died without issue, he was succeeded in the 
title of baronet by his next brother. 

Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., who was born in July, 1718, and 
brought up to the naval profession. He became a Captain in July, 
1740; in December, 1744, he was so fortunate as to capture a 
French ship of great value off the Havannah, homeward bound, 
after an engagement of several hours. Subsequently he became 
Vice Admiral of the red Squadron of His Majesty's fleet, and was 
afterwards an Admiral of the white. He represented the borough 
of Thirsk in five successive parliaments. He married Miss Sarah 
Rhett, grand-daughter of the Chief Justice of South Carolina, in 
that province, in May, 1743, by whom he had five sons and eight 
daughters. Sir Thomas died at Bath, Nov. 21st, 1784, and was 
succeeded by his eldest surviving son, also named 

Thomas, who was born in Sept. 1750, and was educated at Eton 
and Merton College, Oxford. He married Dorothy, daughter of 
William Smelt, Esq., of Leases, in the county of York, by whom 
he had issue Henry, Robert, Sarah Amelia, and Marianne, of 
whom only Robert survived. Sir Thomas represented the borough 



192 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

of Thirsk in parliament, and was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 
1792. He died in 1831, and was succeeded by his only surviving 
son, 

Sir Robert Frankland, the late baronet, born in 1784. He 
married in 1815, Louisa Anne, third daughter of the late Right 
Hon. and Right Rev. Lord George Murray, bishop of St. David's, 
by whom he had issue five daughters. 

Augusta Louisa, married in 1842, to Lord Walshingham; she 
died in 1844, leaving issue one son, born 1843. 

Caroline Agnes, born March 8th, 1820, died May 18th, 1846. 

Emily Anne, married Nov. 10th, 1847, to Sir William Payne 
Gallwey, Bart., M.P., and has issue Ralph William, born in 1848. 

Julia Roberta, married 1845, Ralph Neville Grenville, Esq., of 
Burleigh Court, Somersetshire, and has issue Robert, born in 1846. 

Rosalind Alicia, married 1854, Francis Astley, Esq., and has 
issue Bertram, born 1857. 

Sir Robert represented Thirsk in parliament, from 1815 to 1834. 
In 1836, on succeeding to the estates of Sir Robert Greenhill 
Russell, he assumed the name of Russell in addition to his own. 
He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1838, and died March 11th, 
1849, after an illness of only two days. 

Leaving no male issue, the title of baronet reverted to his cousin 
Sir Frederick William Frankland, now the 8th baronet. The 
estates are however enjoyed by his own family. 

Arms. Azure, a dolphin, naiant, embowed, Or, on a chief of 
the second, two saltiers gules, quarterly with Russell. Crest, 
A dolphin argent, haurient, and entwined round an anchor, erect, 
proper motto — Frank-land, Frank-mind. 

The mansion of Thirkleby Park, is an elegant modern building, 
erected by Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., in the Italian style, from 
a design of James Wyatt, architect, in the place of an ancient 
Elizabethan mansion. It is situated on a gentle eminence, west 
of the village, surrounded by gardens and shrubberies. 

The park in front is of considerable extent, declining with easy 
slope to the east, the west, and the south, and adorned with a pro- 
fusion of thriving timber. A fine avenue, composed chiefly of 



THIRKLEBY. 193 

venerable firs, along which passed the carriage-way to the old 
Hall, yet forms a very interesting feature in the landscape. The 
present entrance, consisting of a lofty gateway, with a lodge on each 
side, was erected in 1792. When viewed from the Hamhleton 
Hills the country around Thirkleby appears like a thickly wooded 
plain. 

A School in the village was rebuilt and enlarged in 1841. 

The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is pleasantly situated in 
the park, about a quarter of a mile from the village, and in view 
of the mansion. At first this was only a chapel to Coxwold, and 
given by Roger de Mowbray to the Prior and Convent of New- 
burgh, with three oxgangs of land, and certain crofts and tofts, in 
the year 1145 ; and a vicarage ordained therein in 1269. The 
first Vicar was " dom Will, de Sudevall." The Rev. Thomas 
Barker is the present Vicar.* 

The first Church (probably built soon after the conquest) having 
become ruinous through the lapse of time, was taken down, and 
rebuilt by Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., in the year 1722, in the 
Italian style of that period. This last building existed for 130 
years, when on the death of Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart., 
his widow, in 1851, caused the present fabric to be erected, from 
designs by E. B. Lamb, Esq., Architect, as a fitting monument 
and tribute to his memory. 

The present Church consists of a nave with aisles, chancel, vestry, 



* Miss Laura Barker, one of the most accomplished lady amateurs of this country, 
(now the wife of Mr. T. Taylor, the successful dramatist), daughter of the vicar of 
this parish, has won for herself high distinction as a poetess and musical composer. 
One well qualified to appreciate merit in art thus writes of her Cantata of JEnone, 
adapted to the poetry of Tennyson, in 1853. " The composer of this Cantata is 
another instance of the degree of excellence that may be attained by amateurs in this 
so-called unartistic country, cultivating an aptitude to excel in art. The music is 
graphically descriptive of the poetry, and without an affected indulgence in extrava- 
gant harmony, the composer has felicitously adopted the best models of this style of 
composition, with expressive phrases of original and beautiful melody. The list of 
her published works contains ten Songs, seven Duets, a Glee, and a few pianoforte 
pieces. In all these compositions there is great merit, and a right feeling is displayed 
in her conception and treatment of melody ; and considering the seclusion of her 
life, with her respected parents in a rural parish, without the advantage of hearing 
her works performed, it is surprising to find so much effect in all her instrumentation." 
—Record of the Musical Union, by J. Ella, Feb. llth, 1853. 



194 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

a chapel to the south of the chancel, covering the family vault of 
the Franklands, and a tower with a lofty spire, placed at the north- 
west angle of the building. The style partakes largely of the De- 
corated period. The tower is square, supported by buttresses at 
the outer angles, which terminate in triangular heads at the level 
of the belfry windows ; these last are four in number, of two lights 
each, one on each face of the tower, with geometrical tracery in 
the sweep of a depressed pointed arch ; a bold corbel table, adorned 
with eight crocketted pinnacles, two on each side terminates the 
tower ; from the centre of which rises an octagonal spire, making 
the total height 100 feet. The windows of the aisles are generally 
of two lights each, with tracery above, under a depressed arch ; 
those of the clerestory are much smaller, of one light each, with 
trefoil heads. The roofs of the side aisles are much flatter than 
those of the nave and chancel, which are of a high pitch and 
covered with tiles. The east window of the chancel is of three 
lights, filled with brilliant stained glass, painted by one of the 
ladies of the family ; and the great western window of the nave is 
of four lights. The exterior of the Frankland Chapel presents the 
appearance of a low octagonal tower. The walls are of hard lime- 
stone, in a rough state, the quoins and ornamental work are of 
Rainton stone, and the tracery of the windows is of white magne- 
sian limestone. The entrance is on the west, between the tower 
and nave. The basement story of the tower is used as a baptistery, 
and lighted by a window of three lights, filled with stained glass. 
The interior of the nave is striking and lofty ; it is divided from 
the aisles by three large, and two small, arches on each side, resting 
on four octagonal pillars, with moulded caps. The roof is of Dpen 
framework, arched and trussed, and is very elegant. The vestry 
on the north, and the Frankland aisle on the south, are divided 
from the chancel by two arches on each side. The floor of the 
chancel presents a pleasing piece of mosaic, composed of Minton's 
decorated tiles. The Frankland Chapel occupying the south-east 
angle of the building, is placed over the private vault of that 
family ; the base is a square of about nine feet, it is afterwards 
thrown into an octangular form, by arches across the angles, above 



THIRKLEBY. 195 

which rises a groined roof. Mural tablets to the memory of 
different members of the family are placed against the walls. Two 
traceried windows on the east and south sides filled with stained 
glass, cast in a dim religious light. The floor is partly composed 
of decorated tiles. 

On the alter table is a large brazen alms'-dish, representing in 
bold relief, Abraham offering his son Isaac in sacrifice ; the youth 
is kneeling before a blazing altar ; the knife is uplifted to give the 
fatal blow ; an angel appears above, and the ram is seen caught in 
a thicket on the right. Frequent cleaning has defaced the counte- 
nances of the patriarch and his son, but the general design yet 
remains quite distinct. 

The sittings are low open benches. Verses from Scripture are 
inscribed on the walls in different places, and round the lofty 
pointed arch between the chancel and the nave. 

The length of the nave is 48 feet 6 inches, breadth 33 feet ; 
length of chancel 25 feet, breadth 33 feet ; the interior height of 
the nave is about fifty feet. 

The following monumental inscriptions occur in different parts 
of the church. 

On the floor, at the west end of the nave are three large slabs of 
blue stone, one of them at present without any inscription, the brass 
having been torn away by hands profane long ago. It probably 
covered the remains of AVilliam Ayscough, Esq., of Osgodby Hall, 
a very active magistrate during the Commonwealth era, and M.P. 
for Thirsk in 1645. 

The next, beneath a shield, bearing a fesse between three asses 
passant for Ayscough, impaling a chevron between three talbots 
passant, on a chief embattled as many martlets for Burgoyne, has 
the following inscription i — 

" Deposituin Judithse filise Johannis Burgoyne de Sutton in comitat 
Bedford Brtt, et uxoris Gulielmi Ayscough de Osgoodby in comitat Ebor. 
Milit. ab anno 1640, mensis Mart. 9°- ad 1688, et Julij diem 21 quo 
obiit. Caro mea in Spe Requiessit. Psal. 16. 9. Omne sub hoc Saxo 
mini quod mortale Relinquo Corpus ab hoc (Animae Spes) Immortale 
Resurgam. Posuit hoc lugubris Amicus." 

The other bears the arms of Ayscough as above, impaling a 



196 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

chevron between three trees, with this inscription beneath — 

" Anna Ayscough Vidua moestissima in memoriam Gulielmi Ayscough 
Armigeri, mariti charissimi, viri ingenio pollentis animo invictissimi, 
moribus amoenissimi, filii natu maximi Gulielmi Ayscough Militis adhuc 
superstitis, hoc monumentum possuit. Obiit 18°- die Novembris Anno 
Dni 1676." 

On the south wall of the nave, near the west end are two large 

white marble tablets inscribed as follows : — 

To the Memory of 

Sir William Frankland of this place, Bart,, 

A true lover of his country, 

A constant asserter of its libertys, a promoter of 

Its welfare, and a defender of its laws in all capacities ; 

As a representative in Parliament, 

As a public magistrate, 

A friendly, cottf teous, and charitable neighbour ; 

A prudent and indulgent father, 
A tender and affectionate husband to his only and 

Dearly beloved wife Arabella y e daughter of y e 
Honoura ble Henry Belasys of Newbrough, Esq re > 

Of a pleasant wit and agreeable conversation, 

Of a sound judgment and unbiassed integrity ; 

And of a temper 

Even, cheerful, happy to himself and 

Delightful to all who knew him. 

To compleat all y e rest, 

In his religion truly Christian, pious and humble : 

Of a comprehensive and charitable spirit, 

Free from superstition and neglect ; 

His mind entirely submitted to y e Divine will, 

As appeared by an admirable patience many years 

Under the affliction of a most painful distemper, and 

When it pleased God to call him hence, 

In a cheerful resignation of his soul 

To his Redeemer in a steadfast assurance 

Of a happy eternity. 

He died August y e 2 nd ' 

An. Dom. 1697, 

In the 59 th year of his age. 

Close adjoining the above is the other to the memory of his 

lady :— 

Near this place lyeth y e body of Arabella y e beloved wife of S r Wm 



THIRKLEBY. 197 

Frankland of this Parish, Bart., y e daughter of y e Hon ble Henry Belasyse, 
eldest son of Thomas Lord Visct e Fauconberg, y e mother of nine children, 
of w'ch four died young and five survived, viz. : — Thomas, Grace, Henry, 
Will., and John, and in these relations, as well as all others, behaved herself 
with that Prudence and christian piety y 1 thereby she gave an Example fit 
for y e imitation of the age she lived in, left her own memory precious to 
posterity, and now, through the merits of Christ enjoys y e reward and 
comfort of those graces w'ch He so liberally bestowed upon her, having 
rendered her soul to him y t gave it upon y e twenty-sixth day of February, 
Anno Dom. 1687, in the fiftieth year of her age. 

In the south aisle on a small brass on the floor is inscribed, 

Here lie the remains of Mary Trant Smelt, the wife of Cornelius Smelt, 
Esq., of Thirsk. She died greatly lamented October 5th, 1797, aged 34. 

On the south wall, near the reading desk, on a large tablet of 
white marble is inscribed, 

Near this place lyeth the body of S r Thomas Frankland of this Parish, 
Bart. 

He was a person that in all stations of life behaved with an equal pru- 
dence and honour. Whilst he was one of the Governors of the Post 
Office, he considerably improved that branch of the revenue without op- 
pressing the subject. He rebuilt this church at his own expense in 1722. 
He was a true Friend, a kind husband, an Indulgent Father, and a gene- 
rous Master. And being entirely resigned to the good pleasure of his 
Creator during a long and painfull distemper, he departed this life the 
30th day of October, 1 726, in the 62nd year of his age. 

In the same Repository lyeth Elizabeth, wife of the said Sir Thomas 
Frankland. She was daughter of Sir John Russell of Chippenham, in 
the county of Cambridge, Bart. She had ten children by her said hus- 
band, four of which survived her, viz. : — Thomas her eldest son, who 
succeeded his father in honour and estate, and erected this monument to 
the memory of his dear parents. Richard Frederick, and a daughter 
named Frances, widow of Roger Talbot of Woodend, Esq re * 

She was a devout Christian, a loving wife, and a tender mother, and 
died the 20th day of July, 1733, and the 68th year of her age. 

In the Frankland Chapel are the following inscriptions : — 
. Memorise Sacrum 

Lucia uxor Gulielmi Frankland de Thirklebie Armigeri, filia Henrici 
Boteleri milites, comitatus Hartfordiae* ex nobili familia Botelerorum ca 
Baronium hujus Regni, Religionis purae, Devotionis sincerae, conscientiae 
tenerse, charitatis prodigse, notis gaudium natis gloria viro decus Christo 
acceptabile sacrificium, Obiit 17 Die Maij iEtatis suae 57. 



198 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Lapis insculptus viatorern alloquiter, 

Miraris solito qui sim fulgentior hujus, 
Luceo mine radijs Lucia clara tuis, 

Lucia tot tantis splendens virtutia ilia, 
Lucia quae deeirna prole beata fuit, 
Quae latet hie nuper quanto candore reluxit, 
Quanto lucidior quando resurgit erit. 
Venit iterum qui me 
in lucem reponet dies. Post tenebras spero lucem. 

Near this place lies the body of Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., (second 
son of Henry Frankland, Governor of Fort William, in Bengal), Admiral 
of the White ; who represented the Borough of Thirsk in six parliaments. 
He died at Bath on the 21st of November, 1784, aged 66. 

He married Sarah, daughter of William Rhett, Esq., of South Carolina, 
by whom he left seven sods and three daughters. 

" In memory of Captain Robert Frankland, fourth son of Henry 
Frankland, governor of Fort William in Bengal, who died 25th December, 
1757, off Bombay, while commander of His Majesty's ship the Yarmouth, 
Avunculo suogratus." 

" This memorial of the premature decease of four dear children, was 
erected by their afflicted parents, Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., and 
Dorothy his wife, in the year of our Lord 1803. 

Sarah, born Dec. 13th, 1775, died June 8th, 1782. 

Amelia, born Feb. 10th, 1777, died Jan. 4th, 1800. 

Marianne, born Nov. 10th, 1779, died Aug. 17th, 1795. 

Henry, born May 26th, 1781, died Dec. 2nd, 1801. 

The remains of the three first lie in the vault of this church, of the last 
in the Island of Madeira. " 

" In the vault of this church are deposited the remains of Sir Thomas 
Frankland, Baronet, son of Admiral Sir Thomas Frankland, the 5th 
baronet ; born A.D. 1750, who died Jan. 4th, 1831. Also of Dorothy 
his wife, second daughter of W T illiam Smelt, Esq., of Leases in the county 
of York, born A.D. 1750, died May 19th, 1820. 

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be 
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
pain, for the former things are passed away. — Rev. c. xxi., v. 4." 

Against the eastern wall of this chapel is a mural tablet sur- 
mounted by a canopy, and divided into six compartments by 
panels, the upper central one contains the following inscription : — 

Here rests in the hope of a blessed Resurection to Eternal Life, the 
body of Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Bart., who departed this life on 
the xi. of March, mdcccxlix., after only two days illness. He was born 
July xvi., mdcclxxxiv., and was member for the Borough of Thirsk in 
several parliaments. 



THIIiKLEBY. 199 

Also the body of his wife Louisa Anne, third daughter of Lord George 
Murray, Bishop of St. David's. By whom this church was re-erected, 
as an affectionate memorial of her husband. She was born May xxixth, 
mdcclxxxx and died 

Also the body of their second daughter Caroline Agnes, who was born 
March viiith, mdcccxx., and died after a lingering illness, May xviiith, 

MDCCCXXXXVI. 

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. — Acts 
xviii., v. 3U 

The Benefice is a Discharged Vicarage in the deanery of Buhner, 
Archdeaconry of Cleveland and diocese of York. As already re- 
lated, this chapel, then dependent on Coxwold, was given by 
Roger de Mowbray, to the Prior and Convent of Newburgh. After 
the dissolution the Rectory of Thirkleby, with the advowson of its 
vicarage, were given to the Archbishop of York and his successors, 
by King Henry VIII., in exchange ; and the Archbishop is still 
the patron and impropriator. It is thus entered in Bacon's Liber 
Regis, -p. 1119. " Thirkleby v. (All Saints). Clear yearly value 
26/. 15s. Sd. King's books 67. Synodals and Procurations os. 4td. 
Value in mans, cum du. bo vat. terr. & un. cotag. per ann. ISs. £d. 
Decim. fcen. Ian. agn. vitul., &c. Pri. Newburgh, Propr. Arch- 
bishop of York." 

In 1818, the living was returned as worth 148/. 8s. 3d. per ann. 
20s. was left by Brian Kitchingman of Leeds, 10s. of which were 
to be paid to the Vicar for preaching an annual sermon on Christmas 
day, and 10s. for the poor of the parish. Present net value 210/. 

The Register books commence in 1611. 

The following Testamentary burials have taken place in this 
church.* 

" 16 Dec, A.D. 1512, Thomas Cowton Vicar of Thirkilby." 

u 22 Feb., 1557, Bryan Barker pbr. Vicar of Thirkilby, buried 
in the church yard, hard against the porch door." 

"29 Junij, A.D. 1478, Thos. Fulthorp of Thirkilby, Esq." 

" 2 Sep., 1559, William Askwith of Osgodby." 

" 22 Oct., A.R., 13 Eliz., Anne Askwith of Osgodby, widow." 

* Torre's MSS., 585. 



200 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

" 30 July, A.D. 1593, Fras. Kaye of Osgodby Grange, gent." 

" 21 Nov., A.D. 1623, Ralph Latton of Osgodby Grange, gent., 
buried in the church yard near his son's grave." 

" 2 Nov., A.D. 1624, Tim. Askwith of Kilborne, gent., buried in 
the chancel of the church near his mother." 

" 15 Feb., A.D. 1621, Rob. Firbanke of Thirkelbye, CL, buried 
in the church yard, near besides his wife." 

" 4 Nov., A.D. 1624, Robt. Wemas Vicar of Thirkilby." 

" 24 May, A.D. 1483, Robt. Pepper, CI. Vicar of Thirkilby, 
buried in the chancel." 

The charities belonging to this parish consist of eleven acres of 
land; 41/. 7s. 6d* in the Savings' Bank, and 43Z. 6s. 8d., taken by 
the parish : out of which 10s. per annum is paid to the minister 
for a sermon on Christmas day, and the remainder of the rent and 
interest is distributed amongst the poor. 



HOOD GRANGE. 201 



HOOD GRANGE. 



Hood, or Hode Grange, is now an ancient farm house, in the 
parish of Kilburne, situate at the foot of the Hambleton Hills, about 
seven miles east of Thirsk. Here was formerly a hermitage, 
wherein resided Robert de Alnetto, who had been a monk of 
Whitby. He was a Norman, and uncle to Gundrea the mother of 
Roger de Mowbray ; this was previous to the year 1138. 

We can easily imagine what this place would be at that time — 
an uncultivated wilderness, overgrown with thickets of thorns and 
briars, the lower parts in winter flooded by streams from the neigh- 
bouring mountains ; shut in, then as now, on three sides by hills, 
rocks, and precipices, their sides clad with a scanty growth of 
stunted timber; presenting in summer a picture of mountain 
scenery, wild, but not unlovely. During winter the scene would 
change to one of rugged desolation. 

To such places did good men retire to escape the contagion of 
this world, and prepare themselves for another. Their dwellings, 
made by their own hands, were of the most rude and primitive 
kind, sometimes consisting of a cave scooped out of the rock, some- 
times a hut of stone and earth. To most of them was a small 
chapel and garden attached ; in the former the hermit said his 
prayers, in the latter cultivated the few herbs from which his sub- 
sistence was derived. 

The general costume of hermits was a long gown with arm 
holes, and a hood, which covered the whole body ,• a tunic and a 



202 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

rosary ; a rope for a girdle, a hair shirt, and what was peculiarly 
affected, a knight's iron corslet. The beard was generally very 
long, and the dress often very ragged. Unlike other Religious, 
they could possess property, and make a will. They commonly 
followed trades or occupations. It was not unusual for bishops and 
abbots, to retire and end their days as hermits. Some hermits 
were mere thieves and vagabonds, who made their cells receptacles 
for stolen goods. Among this latter class we have no desire to 
rank the noble Norman who formerly resided here ; he was perhaps 
as harmless as any Norman of that age. He continued to reside 
here until the year 1138, when his niece Gundrea having enter- 
tained an abbot and twelve fugative monks, driven from Calder by 
the Scots, for a w T hile at the castle of Thirsk, sent them to reside 
here, when the first possessor ceded the place to them, on condition 
that they should there found a house for canons of their order . 
this they agreed to, and the grant was subsequently confirmed by 
Roger de Mowbray. Here they built themselves a dwelling and 
church upon a larger scale than were needed by the humble 
hermit. The sending them provisions to Hood being attended 
with many inconveniences, Roger de Mowbray at the request of 
his mother and Thurstan, Archbishop of York, gave them his cow- 
pasture of Cambe, and all the lands of Wilden, Scakilden, and 
Erghuni for their support, A.D., 1140. Here Gerald, the first 
abbot died, March 2oth, 1142, and Roger the sub-cellarer was 
chosen abbot in his place. 

In 1143, Roger de Mowbray gave to the monks, the town and 
church of Old Byland, to which place they removed, intending to 
build an abbey there ; but the situation not being suitable, they 
removed again, and finally settled near Coxwold, under shelter of 
the Hambleton Hills, where they built the magnificent abbey of 
Byland. 

Tanner * gives the following account of this place. — " It was 
originally an Hermitage for a monk of Whitby, but A.D. 1138, 
was given by Roger de Mowbray to a convent of Cistercian monks, 

* Notitia Mouastica, p. 656. 



HOOD GRANGE. 203 

who were driven from Calder in Cumberland, by the incursions of 
the Scots. Here they continued four or five years, and then re- 
moved to Byland. Afterwards Sampson de Albini giving them 
some other lands and tithes in exchange, this place was granted to 
the monastery of Xewburgh, and a cell of black canons from 
thence, fixed for some time here, dedicated to the blessed virgin." 

Sampson de Albini, who was cousin to Roger de Mowbray, 
having obtained possession of Hood, it was subsequently given by 
Adam Fossard to the priory of Xewburgh, into which priory the 
said Sampson retired, devoted himself to God. and took upon him 
the habit of a canon regular. This gift of Adam Fossard was con- 
firmed by Roger de Mowbray, and a cell of black canons from 
Xewburgh was established here, which same canons did acknow- 
ledge the same Adam to be patron of the said place and all be- 
longing thereunto.* 

Time has wrought great changes at Hood, the buildings of the 
monastic establishment have been converted into two farm houses, 
whose thick walls and antique windows, are indicative of their 
great age and former use. In the wall of the barn is a stone 
cofiin placed upright, probably that of the abbot Gerald who was 
buried here. It was found in digging foundations for the erection 
of a thrashing machine. The upper parts of two windows are also 
inserted in the wall ; they appear to have been double narrow 
lights, with trefoil heads. The present barn probably occupies 
the site of the ancient Church, and the burial ground was where 
the fold-yard now is. The remains of the former greatness of 
Hood are few indeed, ages of ruin and neglect have swept away 
the church, so that not a fragment remains ; the few relics, which 
at different times have been found have disappeared, with the ex- 
ception of the font, which was dug up about the year 1818, and is 
now preserved in the grounds of Thirsk Hall, where it is formed 
into a dial. " It is square at the base, and supported at the angles 
by four grotesque figures, resembling what heralds call sea lions. 
Two opposite sides are decorated with as many indescribable 

* Mon. Ang\, Vol. vi., p. 322. 



204 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

beings ; one apparently human, though mutilated, holding a book 
and a two-edged sword ; the other supporting on a kind of shield 
an Agnus Dei, with its usual emblems, a staff, cross, and banner. 
The upper part being circular forms the basin, which is now 
hidden under a sun dial." * 

The house is situated in the centre of a semicircular valley, 
formed on the east by a bend of the Hambleton Hills; on the south 
Hood Hill, partly covered with wood, closes the prospect in that 
direction; while Sutton Brow projects a considerable distance from 
the main mountain chain on the north, so that it is open only to 
the west. 

" Little old Hamlet ! ever may'st thou be 
Retired and happy as thou seemest now." 

* Jefferson's Thirsk, p. 118. 



FILISKTRK. 205 



FILISKIRK. 



About three miles north-east of Thirsk, on a green hill side, 
almost hid by groves of trees, stands the village of Filiskirk.* The 
place presents little worthy of note except its quiet sylvan cha- 
racter, and its ancient church, the latter well worthy of a visit 
from the antiquarian tourist. 

There is no name resembling Filiskirk in Domesday, although 
Sutton, Boltby, and Marderby, all in this parish, occur. 

The following entry, however, probably belongs to this place. 
Like all the lands in the same parish, it belonged to Hugh the son 
of Baldric. The likelihood is that when the church was built the 
parish assumed the name of the saint to which it was dedicated, 
and in time the old name became forgotten. 

" II. Manors. In Friclebi, Ligulf and Gamel had three carucates 
of land to be taxed. There is land to one plough. Girrard a 
vassal of Hugh's, has there two ploughs, and one villane with one 
plough. Wood pasture eight quarentens long and four broad. 
The whole manor one mile long, and half a mile broad. Value in 
King Edward's time twenty-six shillings, now five shillings. 

* Filiskirk, or rather Felixkirk, a name unique in England, is not of great anti- 
quity ; the earliest mention we find of it is in the foundation charter of Xewburgh 
Priory, (1145) wherein Roger de Mowbray gives to the canons of that house — "five 
acres of land in the territory of Bagby, near the road which leads to St. Felix." 

St. Felix, to whom the church is dedicated, and from whom the village takes its 
name, was the first bishop of East Anglia, and was consecrated at Dunwick, A.D. 
630. He founded the monastery of Soham in Cambridgeshire. His remains were 
transported to Romsey Abbey in 1026, and were enshrined there in 1192. 



206 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Berewick. This belongs to Fridebi, Ravenetorp (Raventhorp) 
one carucate {o be taxed. Land to half a plough." * 

The above conjecture is somewhat strengthened by the fact 
that Raventhorp yet forms part of the parish of Filiskirk. 

This village, with much of the immediate neighbourhood, after- 
wards came into possession of the knights of the hospital of St. 
John of Jerusalem, whose commandery stood on the hill about half 
a mile distant. 

The Church was appropriated to the knights of the above hos- 
pital in England, and a vicarage ordained therein sixteen kal. 
Maij, 1279. After the dissolution of the religious houses, Henry 
VIII. granted the rectory and advowson, together with the com- 
mandery of Mount St. John, and the manor of Sutton-under-Whit- 
stoneciiff to the see of York. 

The Church dedicated to St. Felix, is an interesting fabric, ex- 
hibiting great variety of architecture, part of it being of the Anglo- 
Norman age, and the other parts of different periods. It consists 
of a tower, nave with aisles, chancel and porch ; the last is quite 
modern ; the tower is square, and of more recent date than some 
other parts of the building. The nave appears more ancient than 
'the tower, and has buttresses of two stages at the angles only. 
The chance], (at least a portion of it) is the oldest, and probably 
formed part of the first erection. Only two of the original windows 
remain, (that on the north side walled up), the other is above the 
chancel door, round-headed, about eight inches wide, the wall 
splayed in the inside, in true Norman style. The next window 
eastward is an insertion, of two lights, with trefoil heads, the eye 
above circular. The buttresses are flat, projecting only a few 
inches from the building. The east window is of three lights, and 
contains some beautiful fragments of stained glass of foliated de- 
sign, apparently selected from more which has been lost. The roof 
is of a low pitch, and covered with lead. 

The nave is divided from the aisles by two pointed arches on 
each side ; one massive round pillar in the centre supporting each 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 198. 



FILISKIRK. 207 

pair. The chancel is the most interesting part of the fabric, 
proving its antiquity by two fine Norman columns attached to the 
wall; the arch which has rested on their finely voluted capitals has 
disappeared ; from these eastward, the church has been circular, 
as may be easily seen by the inward bending of the walls for six 
or eight feet on each side ; until we meet with the work of the 
modern improvers, who have torn down the eastern portion, and 
rebuilt it in a square form, with as little ability as judgment. 
The circular east ends are said to be derived from an imitation of 
the hemicycle of the Roman Basilica ; and are by some antiquaries 
referred to the Saxon age. The finest example of this style in 
Yorkshire is Lastingham church, which yet retains its circular 
east end in beautiful preservation, as well as its crypt or under- 
croft. The oldest portion of Ripon Minster has a circular end. 
The beauty of that at Lastingham makes us much regret the de- 
struction of this at Filiskirk. 

Beneath a recess in the north wall of the chancel, are laid two 
full-length figures male and female ; not both in one block, or both 
belonging to one tomb, for one of them has evidently been removed 
to its present position from some other place in the church. The 
male figure is that of a knight crusader, arrayed in link mail, his 
legs crossed, and his arms folded on his breast, with his hands 
joined in the attitude of prayer. The pointed shield (blank) is on 
the left side ; he wears the belt and spurs of knighthood, his feet 
rest upon a lion ; the drapery of the surcoat is finely executed and 
the whole figure in a good state of preservation. 

The female figure is habited in long flowing drapery which con- 
ceals the whole person, except the head and feet, the latter rest 
against a small dog ; the former is partly covered by a veil ; the 
•figures of two angels are sculptured near her head; her hands are 
joined as if in the act of devotion. The canopy above the recess 
in which they are partly laid is circular, and adorned with crockets, 
and has terminated in a final, now broken off. There is no in- 
scription of any kind about the figures to indicate whom they 
were intended to represent.* The probability however is that 

* Filiskirk and its church are thus briefly noticed in Camden — " A little to the 



208 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

they belonged to the potent family of de Ross, who had in very 
early times a castle or manor house at Raventhorpe in this parish. 
The arcading of the Sedilia on the south side of the chancel yet 
remains, but the shafts of the columns separating the seats have 
been broken down ; and the seats themselves filled up with 
three antique tablets of stone, bearing inscriptions to the memory 
of a vicar of the church and his family. 

" Juxta jacet corpus Zachary Suger A.M. hujus Ecclesiae nuper Vicar 
obijt, January 16, Etates suae 49, Anno Domini 1720." 

" Hie jacet Wilhelmus Suger optimus Alius indulgentissi patris obijt 
JEtat suae 19, Aino Domini 1720. Vivens mortuus bene laudatus." 

11 Here lyeth Judeth the wife of Zachary vSuger Vicar, a woman of 
rare endowments of body and mind, died 23rd year of her age, and the 
year of our Lord 1703." 

On a marble tablet against the east wall of the chancel is 
inscribed — 

" To the memory of Gregory Elsley, Esquire, of Mount St. John, 
Lieut.-Colonel of the North York Militia, who died January xxiii., A.D. 
mdcccxxviii., aged Li." 

Within the altar rails are the following inscriptions on the 
floor — 

" Johannes Trueman A.M., ad triginta et nonem annos hujus Eclesiae 
Cura ad sexaginta et tres vita perfunctus est 23° August, 1695." 

11 Hie spe beatae resurrectionis positae sunt reliquiae Joseph Ducken- 
field hujus Ecclesia per xix annos Vicarii qui Sacris literis totus inser- 
viens fidem et officia christianorum pie assidue et docta simplicitate 
enarrant., Obit v. die Aprilis, 1739, JEtatis 58. " 

Near the above on a brass bearing three turbots naiant, two and 
one, with an arm brandishing a trident for a crest, is inscribed — 

" Hie jacet Gulielmus Turbutt Generosus antiqua et penitus oriundus 
prosapia quern natura ut exquisitisima corporis structura ita eximijs. 
Animi dotibus optimaq. ditarat jud (icio). Decimo tertio die, Aprilis, 
Anno Dom 1 1673, ./Etatis suae 26. In manus Salvatoris sui Jesu Christi 
alacritis Spiritual deposuit — Charissimse uxori suae Annas duos filios 
primogenitum Gulielmum et Richardum reliquit. Attigit ipse Acmen 
Ccelosq-ascendit in Altos. Noluit in Terris mors superesse dm." 

north of Mount St. John is Felixkirk, in which church are some old monuments oi 
Knight's Templers." 



FILISKIRK. 209 

The north window of the chancel contains four shields of arms 
in stained glass, one of them modern, hearing the five roses of 
Elsley. 

On a marble tablet against the north wall of the nave is in- 
scribed — 

" Sacred to the memory of the Reverend Watson Stote Donnison, late 
of Trimdon, in the county of Durham, and 53 years Vicar of this parish, 
who departed this life on the 23rd of March, 1827, in the 80th year of 
his age. 

His remains are deposited in a vault in the middle aisle of the 
church. Below on a shield gules, is a lion rampant, Or. Motto 
Spes mea Deus. 

In the church yard is the following summary of the brief career 

of the life of Hannah wife of David Cornforth, who died July 10th, 

1853, aged 21. 

Twenty years I was a maid, 

One year I was a wife, 
Eighteen hours a mother, 
And then departed life. 

The fol] owing Testamentary burials have taken place in this 
church. 

"13 Dec, 1346, Joh. de Walkinghani made her will (proved 
Jan. 30, 1346), giving her soul to God Almighty, St. Mary, and 
All Saints, and her body to be buried in the parish church of St. 
Felix, against the sepulchre of Sr. John de Walkingham her 
husband." 

" Ult. Julij, A.D. 1486, Thomas Marshall Vicar of Felixkirk, 
(will prove 1 Dec, 1486), buried in the quire." 

" 25 Jan., A.D. 1564, Tho. Masterman of Sutton, in the parish 
of Felixkirk, (will proved 4th Oct., 1565), buried in the church 
yard." 

" 26 Sep., 1588, Eliz. Conyers, late wife of Tho. Conyers of 
Heskett, (will proved 4 Oct., 1588), buried in yeth of Phillis 
Churche." 

" 27 Dec, 9 Eliz., Gilbert Conyers of Heskett, Gent., (will 
proved 25 April, 1599), buried in the church." 

11 A.D. 1610, Richard Comyn of Felixkirke, Vicar, (will proved 
25 Feb., 1610), buried in the chancell." 

o 



210 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

"3 Jan., A.D. 1618, Tho. Bell, Vicar of Felixkirke, (will proved 
Mar. 23, 1618), to be buried in the church or church yard." 

" 8th Oct., A.D. 1463, John Sugars, Vicar of Felixkirke, dying 
intestate, administration was then taken of his goods." 

" 21 Mar., A.D. 1548, Leonard Gamble, of Sutton-under-Whit- 
ton-cliff, (will proved 28 May, 1548), buried in the church yard." 

"21 Dec, 1579, Tho. Conyers of Heskett, Gent., (will proved 
24 Mar., 1579), buried in the p'ish church y d of Felixkirk, near 
unto his wife and children." 

The living is a Vicarage in the gift of his grace the Archbishop 
of York. In very early times this church was given to the 
Brethren of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England, 
supposed by one of the family of de Ross, Lords of Helmsley, 
ancestors of the Earls of Rutland. The following documents re- 
lative to the early history of this church, are copied from Torre's 
MSS :— 

" The Church of St. Felix in Clyveland, was given to the Prior 
and Brethren of the Hospital of St. John, Jerusalem in England, 
to whom it was appropriated by Walter Gifford, Archbishop of 
York, who, A.D. 1279, 16 Kal. Maij, ordained that this Church of 
St. Felix, (whereof the said Hospitallers are patrons) be appropri- 
ated to them), saving to the Archdeacon of the place his Arch- 
diaconal rights in all things), and that the said House, (out of the 
Church) by the hand of John Craven d, (who possessed this Church 
at their presentation), receive yearly at Michaelmas 40s., as long 
as he shall live : which said John shall have the residue of the 
obventions, fruits, and profits of the said Church, in name of a 
simple benefice without cure during his life. Also he shall have 
the house, &c, and adjoin to the church. 

And that all ordinary and extraordinary burdens of the church 
when they happen shall be divided between the said masters, and 
Thomas de Cawood their Vicar of the Church. 

And the collation to the Vicarage shall totally belong to the 
Archbishop and his successors. 

"Which Ordination was confirmed by the Chapter of York under 
their Common Seal, on the Kal. Maij, 1279." 



FTLISKTRK. 211 

" oth Nov., A.D. 1314. 
An Inquisition was taken touching the portions of this Vicarage 
of Fclixkirke, which found that to the same Vicarage belonged 
24 acres of laud, arable and pastoral. Inseparable, in a place 
called Holland ; in which land the church was endowed, and the 
land was worth per ann. 24s., 2 tofts in Mar derby, and 4 oxgangs 
of land in the fields of Felixkirk and Marderby, valued per ann. 
at 40s. A certain piece of meadow called Hathskelding, containing 

3 acres, worth per ann. 10s. Another piece called Cromer Crofts, 
containing one acre and a half, valet, per ann. 18^. One toft and 

4 acres of land, rented per ann. at 2s. 6 d. One toft and 4 acres 
of land red. p. ann. 2s. One toft, red. p. ann. 6d. One toft, red. 
p. ann. 6d. One toft, red. p. ann. lod. One toft, red. p. ann. l§d. 
One toft, red. p. ann. 2s. One toft, red. p. ann. 12 d. One toft, 
red. p. ann. Id. In Marderby. One toft and 1 croft, red. per 
ann. 9d., 1 toft 2d. 

In Bolteby. One toft, and 2 oxgangs of land, red. p. ann. 16d. 
In eodem 1 toft, red. p. ann. 2d. and 2 hens. Seven acres of 
meadow in the field of Bolteby, valet, p. ann. 30s. One green hay 
and place of the Vicar's mansion, valet, p. ann. 2s. 

That the master and brethren of St. John of Jerusalem, (who are 
rectors of the church), shall receive the rents of 12d. in one toft, 
and 3 acres of land, (which rent by right the Vicar ought to re- 
ceive). A certain piece of pasture called Crosboskes, containing 1 
acre, which was wont to belong to the Vicar. The Vicar ought to 
receive the tithes of lamb and wool of the whole parish, worth 
per ann. 100s. 

The Quadragesimal Tithe, and the 3 annual oblations, worth 
p. ann. 5 mrs. 

The Tithe alibi, worth p. ann. 16s. 

The Tithes of hens, geese, and pigs, worth p. ann. 20s. 

The Tithes of line, hempe, and orchards, worth p. ann. 20s. 

The Tithe of calves, foals, and bees, valet. 6s. p. ann. 

The carucate pennies and silver of the holy bread, throughout 
all Sundays, val. p. ann. 13s. 9d. 



212 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The wax (candles) offered on the purification day of St. Mary, 
val. 2s. 

The minute offerings of marriages, churchings, and burials, val. 
p. ann. 10s. 

The Vicar ought also to receive all other tithes whatsoever, (ex- 
cept the tithes of garbs and hay), which the masters and brethren 
are to receive as rectors. 

The Vicars are always (from the time of the ordination of the 
vicarage), bound to give the tithes of their garbs and hay. 

Hence the sum of the rents and profits of the Vicarage doe ex- 
tend to 20/z. 3s. 2c/., out of which the Vicars are bound to find a 
parochial priest in the church of St. Felix, and one Chappelaine 
in the Chapell of Bolteby ; and a third Chappelaine to celebrate 
three days in the week in the Chapell of Sutton-super-Whit- 
soncliff. 

And the said master and bretheren, (who are rectors), ought to 
cover the whole chancel at their own cost. 

And the said Vicar is to find books, vestments, and other orna- 
ments of the chancel." 

In the valor of Pope Nicholas, this living is returned as worth 
10/. In the Nova Tax at 4/. ; and in the King's Books, at 9/. 8s. 6d. 
per ann. ; Synodals and procurations lis. 6d. Present net income 
450/. 

April 28th, 1757, a faculty was granted to the parishioners to 
erect a gallery, and on the 15th of March, 1798, another was 
granted to re-pew the church and erect another gallery. 

The Register Books commence in 1598, but many entries are 
almost illegible. 

In this village is a neat building, erected by C. H. Elsley, Esq., 
in 1835, for a school. It is of red bricks, in the Tudor style, and 
bears the founder's arms above the door, with the motto, Sans 
Dieu Rien. 

The township contains 1124 acres, and in 1851, 116 inhabitants, 
being a decrease of ten since the census of 1841. The amount of 
assessed property is 1974/. 



riLISKIRK. 213 

This parish includes, besides the township of Filiskirk, with the 
mansion of Mount St. John, site of the ancient commandery of the 
knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and Marderby Grange, the 
townships of Thirlby, and Sutton-under-WhitstoneclifF, and the 
chapelry of Boltby with Raventhorp. 



214 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



MOUNT ST. JOHN. 



About half a mile from the village of Filiskirk, and three and a 
half miles from the town of Thirsk, is Mount St. John, a Mansion 
on an ancient site belonging to the Archbishops of York, now occu- 
pied by John Horsfall, Esq. The situation is lofty and commanding 
surrounded by fine groves of trees, possessed of much beauty and 
fertility ; yet it is chiefly noteworthy as the site of a commandery 
of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, from whom the name is 
derived. 

In the beginning of the reign of Henry I., William Percy,* 
the first called Algernon, gave to the knights Hospitallers, land 
hereabouts, to the amount of five knight's fees, and thereupon a 
Preceptory of that order was established here, dedicated to St. 
Mary, f 

Robert, lord Ros of Helmsley, gave the manor of Mount St. 
John ; and Roger de Mowbray, Adam Fossard, Sir William 
Cantlow, knight, Alice Gaunt, and Odo de Boltby, gave very many 
lands there. Baldwin Wake gave the manor of Kirby and the 
soke of Osyngwald. % 

The order of knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or knights of 
the Hospital, as they were commonly called, took its rise and name 
from an Hospitium or Inn, built at Jerusalem for the use of Pil- 
grims resorting to the Holy Land, dedicated to St. John the 

* This William de Percy came over with the Conqueror. He was nicknamed 
Alsgernons, from his enormous whiskers, which, since corrupted into Algernon, has 
been a favourite name with his posterity. He possessed large estates in Yorkshire. 
He founded, or rather re-founded the famous Abbey of St. Hilda at Whitby, and made 
his brother Serlo the first prior. He accompanied duke Hobert in the first crusade, 
A.D. 1096, and died at Mountjoy, near Jerusalem, the celebrated eminence whence 
the pilgrims of the cross first viewed the holy city. 

t Dugdale's Mon. Ang., Vol. vi., p. 803, and Tanner's Notitia, p. 645. 
t Torre's MSS. 



MOUNT ST. JOHN. 215 

Baptist. The first duty of these knights was to provide for such 
pilgrims at that Hospital, and protect them from injuries and in- 
sults when on the road. They were first instituted about the year 
1092, and were much favoured by Godfrey de Bouillon King of 
Jerusalem. They were divided into three classes — the Nobles, 
who followed the profession of arms against the infidels, and for 
the protection of pilgrims : — the Ecclesiastics, who exercised their 
religious functions for the benefit of the order: — and the Lay 
Brothers, whose duty it was to take care of the pilgrims and the 
sick. Their superior in England was the first lay baron, and had 
a seat among the lords in parliament. 

They chiefly followed the rule of St. Augustine, and Pope 
Honorius III., assigned to them for their dress a black mantle with 
a white cross in the fore-part thereof. The rest of the dress con- 
sisted of a chapeau in the heraldic form, a surcoat, and mail and 
plated armour mixed, with a long sword, and a belt round the 
waist. 

They made vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. To have 
nothing but bread, water, and clothes. To eat but twice a day, 
and on Wednesday and Sunday, and from Septuagesima to Easter, 
no flesh ; the infirm and sick excepted. The punishment of alterca- 
tion was seven days dining on the ground, without table, or cloth, 
and fasting Wednesday and Friday on bread and water. 

When any one wished to be admitted a knight, he was to come 
to the Chapter on a Sunday, ask the consent of the House, and on 
consent of the majority, be received; after certain exhortations 
and engagements, to take the missal in both his hands, make an 
oath, go to the church, lay the book upon the altar, and bring it 
back : the person who was to make him a knight, then to take the 
missal from him, and give him it back with a suitable prayer. 
Those who sought the fraternity only, to take an oath upon the 
missal, to promise to love the house and knights, to defend them 
with the utmost of their ability from all evil doers — defend the 
property of the house ; and if not able to do this, make the evil 
known — to engage that, if they took any religious order it should 
be that — and if they died without, to be buried in their cemetery, 



216 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

and make an annual present to the house. Upon this to receive 
the peace ; and their names, and what they promised to give* 
annually, to be entered in the register.* 

When the knights Hospitallers were driven from the Holy 
Land, they settled at Rhodes, from whence they were denomi- 
nated knights of Rhodes. After the Turks took Rhodes, in 1552 
the emperor Charles V. gave them the Isle of Malta, from whence 
they derived a new name. 

The first house built for this order in England, was in London, 
A.D. 1100. At the general dissolution of religious houses in 
England by Henry VIII., the whole of the possessions of this order 
were valued at 5394?. 6s. b\d. per annum. 

The houses of the Hospitallers were called Comm an dries, of 
which they had several on their different estates ; in each of which 
they had a society of their brethren placed to take care of their 
lands and rents in that neighbourhood. The respective comman- 
ders accounting to the order in general, for the overplus of the 
profits of their respective estates. 

At the general dissolution, 26th of Henry VIIL, the possessions 
of this house were valued at 137/. 2s. gross, and 102/. 13s. 9d. net, 
per annum. Their possessions comprised lands in the township of 
Filiskirk, and in the parish of Cold Kirby ; also the impropriation 
of the great tithes of the parish of Filiskirk. They had also lands 
in Thirlby, Marderby, Bagby, Boltby, and Kirby Knowle. The 
greatest part of their possessions were granted 34th Henry VIIL, 
to the Archbishop of York in exchange, and have ever since per- 
tained to that see. 

The house has been rebuilt, and few vestiges of its former state 
remain. Two shields carved in stone in the back wall, yet bear 
the Percy crescent ; probably coeval with the first foundation, 
and placed there in honour of the founder. 

There is a tradition that Sir Walter Raleigh resided here for 
some time during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but this story we 
have not been able to authenticate. 

The mansion of Mount St. John with the lands around, and 

• Mon. Anglic, Vol. ii. p. 497. 



MOUNT ST. JOHN. 217 

other property in Filiskirk and Sutton, were formerly held on 
lease under the Archbishops of York, by a family of the name of 
Gregorie ; early in the seventeenth century the Turbutts* had 
possession of it ; from whom the lease was purchased by the Rev. 
William Elsley, who built the present house about the year 1720. 
It has since been considerably enlarged and improved by the same 
family; who held possession of the domain until 1853, when 
Charles Heneage Elsley, Esq., agreed to sell all his interest therein 
to the Church Estate Commissioners for the use of the Archbishop 
of York, so properly speaking they may be said at present to be 
the owners of Mount St. John, and the leasehold estate in the 
neighbourhood. 

* The family of Turbutt is of very ancient standing- in this county, and is traced in 
some pedigrees to the time of Richard I. Richard Turbutt, Esq., of the city of York, 
living- temp. Edward IV. and Elizabeth, had two sons, of whom the elder William 
was registrar of the Consistory Court of York ; he died in 1648, and was buried in the 
church of St. Michael, Spurrier gate, with the following inscription on his tomb. 
" Gulielmus Turbut, Arm. dum vixit doctissimus et fidissimus Eboracensis consis- 
torii registarius moderuus, et dilectissimae custodiae spiritus sancti animam hujus 
sepulchram marmoream et proprium corpus tradit, et in pace tubo requiescant usque 
ad futuram gloriam repeterentur, obiit Nov. 16, 1648, ^tat suce 74. He devised 
estates at Ripou to the son of his brother, Richard Turbutt, Esq., who married and 
had two danghters and one son, 

William Turbutt, Esq., to whom his grand-uncle William, bequeathed the lease of 
the estate of Mount St. John, near Thirsk. He died 13th April, 1673, aged 26, and 
lies buried in Feliskirk church. (See ante). He was succeeded by 

William Turbutt, Esq., his eldest son, born in 1668, served the office of High 

Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1710. He married the only daughter and heiress of 

Driffield of Easingwold, by whom he had one son and six daughters. Richard 

Turbutt, Esq., succeeded to the estate of Mount St. John on his father's death, 13th 
Sept., 1727. He was born in 1689, and Married Mary Anne, daughter and co-heir of 
John Revell, Esq., of Ogstou in the county of Derby, where the family have since re- 
sided, by whom he had two sons who died young ; their mother died in 1724, and their 
father married secondly Francis Babbington, an heiress, by whom he had one son 
William, and three daughters. He died Sept. 3rd, 1758, aged 68, and was buried in 
Doncaster church, when 

William Turbutt, Esq., born in 1738, succeeded. He married in 1767, Elizabeth 
daughter and co-heiress of the Rev. Benjamin Burrow, rector of Merton, by whom 
he had William his heir, Richard Burrow, and four daughters. He died Aug. 23rd, 
1817, ai.d was succeeded by 

William Turbutt, Esq., of Ogston Hall, Co. Derby, and Arnold's Grove, Co. Notts., 
barrister-at-law, born May 4th, 1768, married June 22nd, 1814, Anne, daughter of 
General Gladwyn of Stubbing, by whom he had Giadwyn his heir, and four daughters. 
He died Dec. 25th, 1836, and was succeeded by his only son the present 

Gladwyn Turbutt, Esq., of Ogston Hall, High Sheriff lor the County of Derby 
in 1858. 

Arms. Quarterly Turbutt, Driffield, Babbington and Burrow. Crest, a naked arm 
dexter, holding a trident. 



218 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



MARDERBY GRANGE. 



Marderby Grange in the manor of Sutton, alias Marderby- 
under-Whitstonecliff, is part of the township of Filiskirk, situated 
a short distar.ce south of Mount St. John. At the time of the 
Domesday Survey it was a distinct manor in the hands of Hugh 
the son of Baldric, and from its value at that time was probably 
of greater extent than at present. 

" Manor. In Martrebi, Gamel had three carucates of land to be 
taxed. There is land to one plough. Girard, a vassal of Hugh's, 
has there one plough and seven villanes with four ploughs. There 
is a priest, and a wood without pasture, four quarentens long and 
four broad ; value in king Edward's time twenty- six shillings, 
now twenty shillings." * 

One part of Marderby subsequently became part of the possessions 
of the Knights of St. John, and the remainder was given to the 
abbey of Byland, and formed a grange of that house. On the dis- 
solution of the monastic establishments the whole came into the 
hands of king Henry VIII., and were by him conveyed in 1542, 
along with other estates in this neighbourhood to Edmund Lee, 
Archbishop of York, in exchange ; and belonged to that See, 
until the year 1853, when it came into the hands of the Church 
Estate Commissioners. 

Here is an old Hall, called Marderby Hall, which has been a 
substantial residence, but now only a farm house. What is now 
called Marderby Grange is quite modern. 

Sir Alan Chambre, who was made a judge of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas in 1800, was possessed of the leasehold property in 
Marderby, and may have been born in Marderby Hall. 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 197. 



SUTTON-UNDER- WHITSTONECLIFF. 219 



SUTTON-UNDER-WHITSTONECLIFF. 



This village is very properly named, from its situation near the 
foot of the loftiest precipice of the Hambleton mountain range, 
and to distinguish it from a dozen villages of the same name in 
Yorkshire. It is a place of considerable antiquity, and appears to 
have been of more note formerly than at present. In Domesday 
it is entered as a distinct manor among the lands of Hugh the son 
of Baldric, though one carucate of it appears to have formed a 
berewic belonging to the manor of Bagby. 

" Manor. In Sudtune, Ligulf had five carucates of land to be 
taxed. There is land to two ploughs. Gerrard a vassal of Hugh's 
has there one plough, and eight villanes with two ploughs. There 
is a priest and a mill. Wood pasture one mile and a half long 
and five quarentens broad. The whole manor two miles long and 
five quarentens broad. Value in king Edward's time twenty- 
six shillings, now twenty shillings." * 

We cannot but observe the great similarity in description and 
value, between this and the adjoining manor of Marderby; Girard, 
Hugh's vassal, holds about the same number of villanes and 
ploughs in each place. There is also a priest on each manor, 
where, singular to relate, there is neither priest nor church now. 
Though Sutton is of greater extent, Marderby is of equal value. 
Sutton had the advantage of a mill at that time, which the waters 
of Aislebeck yet enable it to possess. Ligulf, was probably the 
Saxon owner before the Norman spoilers came. 

Part of this township afterwards came into possession of the 
monks of Byland and the canons of Mount Grace, while the lake 
Gormire, belonged to the convent of Newburgh, for the purpose of 
supplying the establishment with fish. On the dissolution of the 
monasteries the lake became the property of the Earls Fauconbergh, 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 197. 



220 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

who purchased a small farm adjoining ; they now belong to Sir 
George Orby Womb well, Bart. The remainder came into the 
hands of the king, and was by him conveyed to the see of York, 
in 1542, when the manors of Beverley, Southwell, &c, were ex- 
changed with the crown for the lands of divers dissolved religious 
houses. Since that time the greatest part of this township has 
been held on lease under the see of York. Sutton Hall was the 
seat of the family of Smyth before they obtained New Building. 
It is now held by the Rev. Charles Johnston, Canon of York Cathe- 
dral, and Vicar of Filiskirk. 

The Whitstonecliff with the wood below extending down to 
Gormire lake, with some adjoining lands, properly called White- 
stone-cote,* are now the property of C. H. Elslcy, Esq., and were 
purchased about forty years ago from the late Mrs. Lawrence of 
Studley Park. Those lands are extra-parochial, though generally 
supposed to be in the township of Sutton. 

There was formerly a Chapel of Ease in this village, for which 
the Vicar of Filiskirk was bound to find a chaplain to celebrate 
mass three times a week ; the building was demolished before 
Archbishop Sharp's time, A.D. 1691. 

The Independents have a chapel here, erected many years ago, 
at the expense of Mr. Squire of Osgodby. 

The Wesleyan Methodists have also a neat little chapel, built 
in 1850. 

Large quantities of lime have for a long time been burnt near 
this village ; the stone is quarried from the eminence called 
Sutton-brow. 

The townships of Filiskirk, Sutton-under- Whitstonecliff, Kil- 
burn, and Marton Lordship, were formerly esteemed to be in the 
Liberty of Ripon ; but by an Act passed in 1837, (1 Vic, c. 53, s. 8), 
they are separated from that Liberty. 

The township contains 1827 acres of land; and in 1851, a pop- 
ulation of 376 souls. 

* Cote signifies a house for sheep : it also signifies a cave or hiding place, latibu- 
lum— SpelmarC s Glossary. 



BOLTBY. 221 



BOLTBY. 



Boltby, a chapelry and township in the parish of Filiskirk, five 
miles from Thirsk, is situated in a hollow among mountains, having 
the Hamhleton range on the east, the huge bulk of Blackmoor on 
the north, and the wooded eminence of Mount St. John on the 
south-west. Although a place of great antiquity, and deriving its 
name from some Danish settler, we know nothing of it previous 
to the Norman conquest. In Domesday it is recorded as the pro- 
perty of Hugh, the son of Baldric, and is thus noticed, — 

" Manor. In Boltebi, Sumersul had three carucates of land to 
be taxed. There is land to one plough, Girard a vassal of Hugh's, 
has there two ploughs, and five villanes with two ploughs, and six 
acres of meadow. Coppice wood five quarentens long and the 

same broad. Value in king Edward's time twenty shillings, now 

m a 

" Berewic. There is one carucate of land to be taxed in Raven- 
storp (Raven thorp), which belongs to Boltebi. There is land to 
half a plough. It is waste." * 

This village subsequently became part of the possessions of a 
family who took their surname from it ; among whom was Odo de 
Boltby, who gave lands, and was otherwise a benefactor to the 
Commandery of Mount St. John. He also gave lands in this 
township to the abbey of Rievaux. The foundations of a large 
building can yet be traced in the valley near the road leading over 
Hambleton, on the farm called Paradise. Tradition points to it as 
the spot where a hall or castle formerly stood. It may be the site 
of the manor house of the de Boltbys. 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 198. 



222 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The greatest part of this township, with that of Thirlby, be- 
longed to the Marquis of Granby. He devised them with other 
large estates, to his natural son W. Manners, Esq., of Goadby in 
Leicestershire ; who left them to ten natural children, after the 
death of their mother, who went by the name of Mrs. Stafford. 
Upon her decease the estates in Yorkshire, Leicestershire, and 
Middlesex, were divided amongst the ten children. 

The Chapel of Ease situate in the middle of tins village, was re- 
built in 1855, in the lancet style. It consists of a nave and chancel, 
with a bell gable at the west end. There is a burial ground 
attached to the present chapel, there was not to that lately pulled 
down ; though there had been one at some former period, as large 
quantities of human bones were found on digging into the ground 
near the old chapel. The present is the third which has stood on 
this spot ; the first was founded in 1409 ; and a faculty was granted 
for rebuilding it, October 23rd, 1802. Thus the first building en- 
dured nearly -100 years, the second little more than fifty, the 
present may have a longer existence, as it appears a strong sub- 
stantial edifice. 

The weaving of linen was formerly carried on here to a con- 
siderable extent, but is now nearly discontinued, and the population 
has declined in consequence. 

The township contains 3834 acres of land, and in 1851, had 295 
inhabitants, shewing a decrease in ten years of 98 ; in 1841, the 
population was returned at 393, and in 1821 at 403. 

The devisees of the late Edward Manners, Esq., pay 5L a year 
for the teaching of five poor children. 

At Raven thorp was formerly a castle or manor house belonging 
to the noble family of De Roos, now converted into a mill. It is 
highly probable that the two figures in the chancel of Filiskirk 
church belonged to this family. AVhat is now called Raventhorp 
is a modern house, and the proper name of the locality where it is 
placed is West-how. 

Thirlby, a small village and township in the parish of Filiskirk, 
does not call for any particular observations. 



KIKKBY KNOWLE. 223 



KIRKBY KNOWLE. 



Kirkby Knowle, is as the name imports, a church and village 
among the knowls or hills. It is situated about five miles north- 
east of Thirsk, in a low, warm valley, so enclosed by high lands, 
woods, and mountains, as to be invisible to the traveller until he 
is almost close upon it, and when viewed from the hills around, 
the valley appears more adapted for the bed of a lake than the site 
of a village. The parish includes the townships of Kirkby Knowle, 
Balk, Islebeck, and Bagby, which three last form a chapelry, dis- 
tant seven miles from the parish church. In 1851, the population 
of the township of Kirkby Knowle was 129. 

At the time when Domesday Survey was made, this village ap- 
pears to have been only a berewick pertaining to the extensive 
manor of Bagby, containing three carucates of land, then the pro- 
perty of Hugh, the son of Baldric, and held by a tenant named 
Orm. It is somewhat difficult however to identify the many 
" Churchbis," or Kirkbys mentioned in that survey, as there are 
twenty two places in Yorkshire alone bearing that name, but this 
is sufficiently identified by its connection with Bagby. In 1217, 
this village was held by Hugo de Magneby, as is manifest from 
the following translation of a deed, now in possession of C. H. 
Elsley, Esq., the present owner of the whole township. 

" Know all men, as well present and future who shall see or 
read these letters, that Hugo de Magneby has demised and granted 
to Lady Gunnora of Kirby-under-Knoll, at the feast of St. Mark 
the Evangelist, next after the death of King John, (A.D. 1217), 



224 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

one crop of the land of the said Hugo, in the territory of Kirby- 
under-Knoll, which the said Gunnora and her men had sowed in 
that year, &c," (specifying the fields). " But when the aforesaid 
Gunnora and her men shall have taken their crop for only one 
year from the aforesaid land : the same land shall revert to the 
aforesaid Hugo and his heirs, freed from and quit of the afore- 
named Gunnora and her heirs for ever." * 

In 1277, the town of Kirkby-sub-Knowle, contained five carucates 
of land, whereof one carucate and two oxgangs were held of Roger 
de Lassells, who held the whole town of Hugh de Upsall, who 
held it of the heirs of Baldwin Wake, and they of Roger de Mow- 
bray, and he of the king in capite, by two shillings rent. The 
whole answering for the fourth part of a knight's fee. 

The feudal vassals at this place formed a long chain from the 
wise and valiant Edward L, who was then king, to Roger de 
Lascells the fifth in the descending scale ; and beneath him there 
was a lower deep still, in the yeomanry who were comparatively 
free, and the serfs of the soil who were slaves, and could be sold 
like cattle. 

From the family of Lascells this township has passed through 
the hands of many illustrious owners of whom we purpose to speak 
when treating of the mansion of New Building. 

The Church is a very small building, consisting of a nave and 
chancel, with porch and bell turret. The length is about sixty- 
six feet and the breadth twelve feet. Although the foundation is 
of undoubted antiquity, the present structure does not contain 
much ancient work, the entrance from the porch into the nave ap- 
pears to be the oldest part ; and the massive pointed arch between 
the nave and the chancel indicative of the Early English style is 
of considerable antiquity, only one of the original windows remains, 
a very small opening to the north, the others are all insertions of 
a later date. The chancel has been rebuilt in modern times, and 
with modern taste. The interior is most interesting from the 

* This deed was published in Nichols's Topographer and Genealogist, Vol. i., p. 216. 



KIRKBY KNOWLE. 225 

many brasses and memorial tablets it contains. Ranged in a row 
in front of the altar rails are seven small brasses inscribed as below. 

44 Here lyeth the body of Mr. James Danby, who died the 16th of 
December, 1676,* in the 76th year of his age." 
Memora pii yEterna. 

44 Here lyeth buryed the body of Mrs. Thomasine Danby, wife of Mr. 
James Danby, who died the 4th of Oct., 1678, in the — year of her age. 

" The memory of the just shall be had in everlasting remembrance. " 

14 Here lieth Dame Ursula Rokeby, widow of Sir Thos Rokeby, Kt., 
formerly one of the Justices of the King's Bench. She was daughter 
and coheir of James Danby, Esqre. She died 1 Oth Aug., 1707, aged 74." 

44 Here lyeth Mrs. Milcah Rokeby, widow of Mr. Joseph Rokeby, 
Mercht and daughter and coheir of James Danby, Esq. She died Oct., 
— f 1726, aged 89." 

14 Here lyeth Joseph Rokeby, Esq., son of Mr. Joseph Rokeby, and 
Milcah his wife. He died 12th Aug., 1741, aged 64." 

" Here lieth Joseph Buxton, Esq re youngest son of John Buxton* 
Esq re and Elizth his wife, daur. of Mr. Joseph Rokeby and Milcah his 
wife. He died 12th Oct., 1766, aged 67." J 

44 Here lieth Mrs. Eliz^ Buxton, widow of John Buxton, Esqre and 
sister of Joseph Rokeby Esq re - She died , aged . § 

The brasses are very small, about six inches square, a little 
ornamented on the top, which bears the arms of the parties com- 
memorated, and supported beneath by a figure of a cherub expanded. 

Against the north wall of the chancel are inscriptions on marble 
tablets, to the memory of different members of the Smyth family 
of Xew Building. 

44 In memory of Fras. Smyth, Esqre of New Building, F.A.S., born 
5th June, 1737, died 14th April, 1809, and of Mary his wife, born 22nd 
Aug., 1741, died 29th Aug., 1824." 

Also of several of their offspring, most of whose remains lie 
interred near this spot with those of their honoured parents, viz. : — 

44 Samuel born 1767, died same day." 

44 Saml born 28th Jan7>- 1770, died 26th May, 1770." 

44 Ursula died 8th June, 1787." 

" Edwd died 2nd Oct., 1789." 

« In the Parish Register, Mr. Danby's death is entered as having happened March 
31st, 1677. 

t " 1726, Mrs. Milcah Rokeby was buried Oct. 19th." 
t " 1766, Oct. 17th, Joseph Buxton of Newbuilding, Esqre., was buried in the 
Quire within ab* one yard of the South wall, at the end of the Minister's Pew." 
\ " Mrs. Buxton buried June 12th, 1721." 

P 



226 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

" Fras Accountant General, Calcutta, born 18th Oct., 1767, died 3rd 
April, 1794." 

" Thomas, M.D„ born 31st Jany., 1775, died 20th June, 1803." 

" Phoebe, born 13th March, 1765, died 4th May, 1808." 

" Joseph, A.B., eldest son, Vicar of Kirby Moorside, born 25th 
March, 1766, died 25th March, 1826." 

" John Robt., A.B., Vicar of Startforth, born 30th Oct., 1780, died 
19th June, 1826." 

" Those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." 

" To the memory of the Rev d Francis Smyth, who died June 28th, 
1842, aged 53 years." 

" For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
which sleep ir Jesus will God bring with him. — I. Thess. iv., 14." 

" Sacred to the memory of Lucy, daughter of the Rev d Jos. Smyth, 
who died Sept. 19th, 1829, aged 23." 

"lam the resurrection and the light." 

On the south side of the chancel are the following inscriptions 
also belonging to the same family. 

'* Sacred to the memory of Edward Smyth, M.D., 4th son of the late 
Joseph Smyth, A.B., Vicar of Kirby Moorside in this county, born 
July 6th, 1798, died 19th May, 1826." 

'* Also of Edward, son of the above Edward Smyth, who died on the 
13th day of April, 1826, aged 2 years and 10 months." 

Their mortal remains lie interred in the adjoining vault in the 
churchyard. 

" Harriet wife of the above Edw d Smyth, died on the 22nd day of 
July, 1830." 

The other mural tablets in this church are — 

u To the memory of Margaret Millar of Penningham, "Wigtonshire, 
Scotland, who died May 3rd, 1827, aged 89 years." 

u Sacred to the memory of Harriett, daughter of Willoughby Bean, 
Esq. She died Nov. 4th, 1823, aged 21." 

Vivens turn moriens semper cara. 

"Emily, daughter of Henry Haffey Bean of Fountains Hall, died at 
Bath, Jany 9th, 1851, aged 42 years." 

" Samuel Walker, Esq., of Silton Hall, died Jany 30th, 1851, aged 71." 

11 To the memories of Mary, the wife of the Revd James Sergeantson, 
Rector of this parish : she died April 6th, 1842, aged 66, buried at Knotty 
Ash, near Liverpool." 

" James Hobson, their eldest son, major of the 50th regiment, died at 
Moulmein in the East Indies, Nov. 17th, 1841, aged 44." 

" Mary Livesey, their eldest daughter, died in 1806, aged 12." 



KIRKBY KNOWLE. 227 

lt Catherine their sixth daughter, died an infant in 1810." 

" Susan their second daughter, died March 29th, 1818, aged 14. " 

" Charles their fourth son, a lieutenant in the navy, died at Chatham, 
1834, aged 31." 

" James Sergeantson, Rector of this parish 47 years, died Sept. 6th, 
1842, aged 71*" 

Si Bene facit die Si non tace. 

" Sacred to the memory of Edward Sergeantson, fourteen years Rector 
of this parish, who died Feb. 12th, 1857, aged 55 ; after long and severe 
suffering borne with the utmost patience and resignation. His memory 
will long live with those he loved on earth. This tablet is erected as a 
tribute of affection by his attached and afflicted wife." 

" Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." 

The above are all the inscriptions inside the church. In the 
churchyard is the following on an altar tomb — 

11 Here lie the mortal remains of John Robert Smyth, A.M., Vicar of 
Startforth, born 30th October, 1780, died 19th June, 1826." 

The following testamentary burials according to Torre's MSS., 
have taken place here — 

" 1 Jan., A.D. 1538, Sir John Smith, parson of Kirkby Knole. 

" 10 Dec, A.D. 1475, Tho. Marayon, Rector of Kyrkby-super- 
Knoll, buried in y e s d Ch. before the High Altar. 

" 13 Nov., 1507, William Adamson, Hector of ye Ch. of Kyrkby 
Knole. 

" 6 Junii, A.D. 1616, George Wells, CL, parson of Kyrby Knoll, 
buried in the upper end of the chancel of y e p'ish Ch. of Kyrkby 
Knole, or where the Communion table stands." 

In the churchyard, near the entrance of the porch are two 
antique crosses, consisting of upright shafts of stone, each inserted 
into a square block below.* They are only a few feet distant 
from each other. 

The Church of Kirkby Knowle is an ancient rectory. The 
former rectors had a vicar to serve the cure under them, who had 
sometimes for his perpetual vicarage the whole church itself, paying 

* " Crosses were set up at the entrance of churches to inspire recollection and 
reverence." — Britton on Stone Crosses, p. 30. 

" A form of benediction was provided for consecrating- church yards, by erecting 1 a 
cross in the centre, and four in the corners ; some churches had more than one in the 
churchyard."— -Gough's Sepulchral Monuments^ Introd., 177-236. 



228 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

out of the same to the Rector the annual pension of ten marks. 
The patronage whereof has belonged to the Lassels of Kirkby 
Knowle and Escryke, and came from them to the Knevitts, and 
then to the constables of Kirkby Knowle, and lastly to the Frank- 
lands, Baronets of Thirkleby. 

The living is valued in the taxation of Pope Nicholas IV., at 
16/. 13s. 4:d., and in the Nova Taxatio at 8/. per ann. In the Liber 
Regis at 8/. 2s. \d. Synondals and procurations lis. 6d. Val. in 
mans, cum gleb. eid. annex. 11. decim, &c. 

The following description of the rights of the Rector of this 
parish, is from a terrier dated June 27th, 1764. 

The parish of Kirkby Knowle and Chapelry of Bagby, contain the 
Lordship of Kirkby and Thomas Nelson's House and Garth, and 
fifty acres of land in Carleton Miniot, — The Lordship of Bagby, and 
Bagby Coat, the villages of Balk Ambo, and Islebeck Grange. 
There are some grounds in the township of Thirsk which pay tithes 
to the rector of Kirkby Knowle — one acre and three roods be- 
longing to Admiral ffrankland, and one other close containing 
about three acres belonging to Jane Johnson, spinster. 

In the town of Kirkby Knowle is the Parsonage House, and 
about thirty-nine acres of glebe land. 

The Lordship of Kirkby Knowle and the fifty-five acres in 
Carlton Miniott, pay all manner of tithes. 

The Rector repairs the roof and windows of the chancel, and the 
parish the rest of the church ; Kirkby Knowle and Carleton Miniott 
paying two parts in five, and the inhabitants of the Chapelry of 
Bagby paying three parts in five. 

In the town of Bagby is a house, a barn, and stable, both under 
the same roof, a small garden and a little stripet of ground, about 
the eighth part of an acre leading to the chapel yard which be- 
longs to the parsonage as well as the chapel yard. To the same 
parsonage also belongs an unstinted common of. pasture, both on 
Bagby High Moor and the Low Moor. 

All the lands in Bagby pay all manner of tythes in kind, except 
Bagby Coat, which pays no tyth, by reason it formerly belonged 
to one of the greater monasteries. Several closes called Hag Farm 



KIRKBY KNOWLE. 229 

pay eightpence a year as a modus for hay tyth only, on Lamas 
day. Several other fields called Painot, pay twelvepence a year 
on Lamas day, as a modus for tyth hay only. A close called 
ffugill Syke pays ninepence a year, as a modus for hay tyth. 
West Balk pays os. yearly, on the 7th of July, as a modus in lieu 
of all tyth both for West Balk and East Balk. Islebeck Grange 
pays 13s. 4c/. yearly, on St. James' day, in lieu of all tyth. There 
is also a halfpenny a cow paid as a modus for tyth milk, but calves 
are paid in kind, half a calf in five, and a whole one in six. 
Lambs are tythable on the 24th of June. Hay is tythable in cock. 
Corn in stook. Sevenpence is paid for a churching, 14 d. for a 
funeral. 2s. 6d. for a marriage by banns, os. by licence. 2d. for a foal. 

The Chapel, with the fence round the chapel yard, are repaired 
by the inhabitants of the said chapelry. • 

The document next gives the names and quantities of the closes 
in Carlton Miniott subject to tithe, and concludes with the names 
of John Wind the rector, the churchwardens, and the principal 
inhabitants of the parish and chapelry. 

The township of Kirkby Knowle according to the tithe com- 
mutation award, confirmed Feb. 28th, 1839, contains 1556 acres, 
2 roods, 17 perches of land, the whole of which is subject to all 
manner of tithes ; in the following state of cultivation — 

Arable Land 

Meadow and Pasture Land 

Woodland .. 

Common Land 

Glebe belonging to the Rector 

Total 

The annual tithe rent charge was 189/., of which sum 180/. is to 
be apportioned amongst all the lands of the said township, except 
the glebe, on which the remaining 9/. are laid. Present net value 
415/. per annum. 

The following catalogue of the rectors of this parish, is partly 
from Torre's MSS., and partly from the parish registers. 

15 Kal. Maij, 1231. Dom. Joh. de Barton. 

10 Kal. April, 1299. Dom. Rob. de Fulston. Pat. Roger de Lassels, Kt. 



a. 


r. 


P. 


576 


1 


31 


.. 539 





15 


159 


2 


13 


.. 227 


3 


21 


53 


2 


17 


. 1556 


2 


17 



230 



THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



3 Non. Oct., 1330. Dom. Rob. de Bowes. 
10 Junij, 1332. Dom. John Sleight. 

3 Junij, 1347. Dom. Will. fil. Joh'es Jakson de Ellerton Cap. 

3 Sept., 1349. Dom. Walter de Witton CI. 

18 Nov., 1349. Dom. Bob. de Bradford. 
1 Mar., 1359. Dom. Tho. Escryks Cap. 

1 Maij, 1365. Dom. Joh. de Thornbergh. 

2 Nov., 1382. Dom. Bic. de Thornton Pbr. Pat. Bod. de Lassells de Escryke. 
15 Dec, 1385. Dom. Bic. de Scardburgh Pbr. 

— — — Beginald de Selby Pbr. 

28 Dec, 1420. Dom. Will. Caleys Pbr. 
10 Junij, 1429. Dom. Will. Baty Cap. 
10 Jan., 1430. Dom. Will. Hebson Pbr. 

12 Oct., 1433. Dom. Bod. Whitfield, vel Whitehed. Fat. Beg. Lassels de i 

Hornby. 5 

19 Decern., 1436. Dom. Bob. Barys. 

14 Decern., 1438. Dom. Tho. I^larayon. Pat. Joh. Lassels. 

23 Decern., 1476. Dom. Will. Adynson, vel Adamson. Pat. Tho. Middleton. 

3 Sep., 1506. Dom. Joh. Smith CI. Pat. Guardians of Johan Pykering. 
1 Junij, 1539. Dom. Joh. Darley Pbr. Pat. Dom. Hen. Knivet, Mil. 

Dom. Joh. Knaysbrough. 

13 Dec, 1575. George Welles CI. Pat. Dom. Johe's Constable, Mil. 
13 July, 1615. Joseph Moore CI. Joh. Constable de K. Knowle. 
j ac . Williamson CI. 

29 Sep., 1673. Guil. Frankland CI. Franklands first presented, and ever since 

1731. John Wind. 

1737. John Clarke. 

1738. John Wind. 
1792. Boger Frankland. 

1797. James Sergeantson, M.A. 

1843. Edward Sergeantson, M.A. 

1857. Lewis Stanhope Kenny, M.A., present Bector. 



The Register Books commence' — Baptisms in 1642 ; Marriages 
and Burials in 1680. It is likely that some earlier books are lost : 
tradition speaks of a fire at some remote period in the church or 
rectory, in which they might be consumed. The books are in a 
fair state of preservation ; during the time the Rev. George Foster 
was curate, they are most exact and elegant. Some of the earliest 
entries in the first book must have been copied from other docu- 
ments, as the last page bears the following memorandum : — " 1653, 
Thomas Danby boughe this booke and it coste two shilling eight- 
pence, besides the covering and it coste tenpence." 

There have been no baptisms in the church during the years 
1754, 1764, and 1767; and no burials in 1774, 1800, and 1802. 

The lands of this township are charged with the payment of 51. 
annually, for ever, devised by the late Francis Smyth, Esq., of 



KIRKBY KNOWLE. 231 

New Building, for the free education of five poor boys belonging 
to the said township. There is no school house at present in 
Kirkby Knowle, but the children are taught in the school of a 
neighbouring village, in either that at Kepwick or Filiskirk. 

In the winter of 1799, a considerable landslip took place a short 
distance east of this village, the land rising with a steep ascent to 
the moor above, the lower and softer strata appears to have become 
surcharged with water, and at length gave way beneath the super- 
incumbent weight, rushed down the slope towards the village, 
bearing with it a vast mass of earth and rocks. The quantity of 
surface displaced by this movement appears to have been con- 
siderably over twenty acres ; its extent may be easily traced by the 
rough waves, hills, and hollows, into which the land has subsided. 
The precipice above where the rocks are left bare is about sixty 
yards in height, by one hundred in length. Below the rough 
debris of the naked scar, about the middle of the displaced ground, 
is a gloomy looking pond filled with black water, occupying about 
three roods of land and shaded with trees : it appears of great 
depth. To the southward of the large pond are two or three ugly 
looking holes, which appear to have been formed at the same time. 
The whole of the ground which has slipped down is now planted 
with trees. 

Many similar landslips, though on a minor scale have taken 
place from the same hill, on the right of the narrow valley called 
Ingdell, through which the road passes from Kirkby Knowle to 
Cowsby, as can be plainly seen by the waves of land near the base 
of the hill. 

The family of Ella, — said to be descended from Ella, one of the 
sons of the " flame bearing " Ida, who was king of Deira one of the 
sister states of Northumberland in the sixth century, whose 
posterity were princes and nobles in the land, and gave name to 
the villages of Kirk Ella and East Ella, near the Humber, where 
they had their chief dwelling, — in very early times settled in the 
Vale of Mowbray, where they appear to have been numerous and 
wealthy ; in Upsall we find Ella-beck and Ella-carr, named from 
this family. Many traditionary stories are related of their devoted 



232 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

loyalty and bravery during the civil wars of the 17th century, 
when they fought for the king and were reduced to beggary by 
the triumph of the Cromwellian party. Afterwards they became 
yeomen and humble tillers of the soil. We find them settled in 
the parishes of Cowsby, Leake, South Kilvington, Bagby, and 
Thirsk, as well as in this parish (Kirby Knowle). Here resided 
early in the last century Michael Ella and Ursula his wife, who 
were the parents of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, 
of whom John the youngest son, was grandfather of Mia * the 
well known professor of music ; member of the Philharmonic 
Academy of Rome, and founder and director of the London Mu- 
sical Union ; one of the most useful and prosperous institutions 
of the kind in the metropolis, for the cultivation of Chamber 
Classical Music. This society was organized in 1844, when the 
number of members were 150 ; in 1858, the number had increased 
to 500, including many of the nobility and some of the choicest 
names in science and art. 

This Union and the analytical programmes edited by Ella, 

* The line of descent, derived from parochial registers and other authentic sources 
is as follows : — 

Michael Ella of Kirkby Knowle, died Nov., 1784, aged 77. 

Ursula his wife, died at Thirsk, Nov., 1799, aged 90. 

Michael Ella their eldest son, born in 1730, settled in Leicestershire, where he died, 
and was buried at All Saints Church, Loughborough, Sept. 10, 1799. He had three 
sons, James the eldest, who by marriage and inheritance became a " goodly Squire,'' 
and lord of the manor of Wimeswould. He was renowned as a fine specimen of a 
gentleman sportsman. John a captain in the army, and Samuel a merchant. 

James Ella was succeeded by his son William, the present lord of the manor of 
Wimeswould. 

James, the second son of Michael and Ursula Ella, died at Kirkby Knowle, June, 
1743, aged 4 years. 

John the youngest son, resided sometime in the neighbourhood of Thirsk. He 
was a civil engineer, and assisted in the formation of the Midland Canal — he also 
settled in Leicestershire, and was buried at All Saints church Loughborough, Aug s 
16, 1799. He, his brother, and mother all dying in the space of four months in one 
year. He had a son 

Richard, born at Thirsk, May 1st, 1769, who was father of Ella the artist, founder 
of the " London Musical Union." 

Sarah, seventh daughter, and youngest child of Michael Ella (never married) died 
at Kirkby Knowle, and was buried there Dec. 28th, 1836, aged 82 years. 

Arms of Ella. — In 1638, the family bore sable a fess dancettee or in chief three 
fleurs de lis argent. In Burke's General Armory we find "Ella per saltier or and 
gules four crescents counterchanged." Crest— modern, probably assumed, a lion 
rampant — Motto — " Jyst samfoyle." 



KIRKBY KNOWLE. 233 

annually published in a record of its proceedings, have received 
the highest eulogiums from musical critics both English and 
Foreign. Like every artist of distinction Ella has won his way 
to fame by talent joined to industry and perseverance, as is mani- 
fest from the following published summary of his career. " Quill- 
driving in a lawyer's office, a dreary prospect for a person of artistic 
temperament, soon drove Ella to woo the muses, and at the age of 
seventeen- this embryo lawyer was a member of both the learned 
and polite professions, being amateur, lawyer, and artist within 
the space of three months. Ella is a pupil of Ferny on the 
violin, of Attwood in harmony, and of Fetis in counterpoint ; he 
has also been constantly employed in translating and adapting 
Italian, French, and German operas for the private performances 
of amateur societies. Ella's contributions to various publications 
are distinguished for sound judgment ; the early numbers of the 
* Musical World ' contain many articles from his pen — of which 
at one time he was musical editor, as well as the ' Athenaeum,' 
and other periodicals of high standing." After remaining twenty- 
five years a member of the Italian Opera Band, Ella retired to de- 
vote his time entirely to the advancement of the Institution over 
which he now presides, with so much credit to himself and advan- 
tage to the Musical Art in England. 



234 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



NEW BUILDING. 



Proudly on an isolated knoll, surrounded by green fields and 
lofty plantations, in one of the most lovely and picturesque spots 
in Yorkshire, stands the mansion of New Building. Though 
called " New," it is of considerable antiquity, and was formerly 
styled Kirby Knowle Castle. 

In the year 1085, when the Domesday Survey was made, this 
place, with the whole township of Kirkby Knowle, appears to 
have been a berewick of the manor of Bagby. Shortly after that 
period it was included in the immense fee of Robert de Mowbray, 
earl of Northumberland, who held it of the king in capite. The 
subinfeudatories, at different times were Baldwin Wake, Hugh de 
Upsall, and subsequently the family of Lascelles. The first we 
find recorded of this name is Picotus de Lascelles who came over 
with the conqueror, in the train of his nephew Alan, earl of 
Richmond, and who, as the reward of his services, received the 
lordship of Scruton in the North-Riding. He had a son named 
Roger. To Roger succeeded another Picotus, who was possessed 
of lands in this parish. He was living 26th of Stephen (1141). 
Sir Roger de Lascelles of Kirkby-under-Knoll, was a person of 
great eminence, and in high favour with king Edward I. Dug- 
dale * speaks of him in the following manner : — " Of this ancient 
family seated in the county of York, were divers persons of great 
note many ages since, but of those the chief whereof I find mention, 

* Baronage, Vol. ii. p. 6, 



NEW BUILDING. 235 

was Roger de Lascels, who in 22nd of Edward L, in order to that 
great expedition intended into France, had summons to attend the 
king and advise touching the most important affairs of the realm. 
The like summons he had also in 23rd and 24th of Edward I. to 
the several Parliaments then held : hut never after, nor any of his 
posterity ; for which respect, I shall not take any further notice 
of them." 

In a copy of a record of a Verdict and Judgment, 52nd of Henry 
III. (1268) before the Justices Itinerant in Yorkshire, wherein 
Roger son of Isolde was plaintiff, and Roger de Lascelles son of 
Picote de Lascelles, defendant. By which plaintiff claimed com- 
mon of pasture for all cattle on Knayveton Moor, which contained 
100 acres, which belonged to his freehold in Braythwath, of which 
said Picot, whose heir Roger de Lascelles was, had unjustly dis- 
seised him. To which Roger de Lascelles pleaded, that the said 
pasture was not in Knayveton, hut in Kirkby Knowle.* The 
verdict is that 50 acres of said pasture was in Knayveton and the 
rest in Kirkby Knowle. And judgment is entered accordingly. 

From a copy of a record de Jurata et Assists for Yorkshire, 
7, 8, and 9 Edward I., A.D. 1279, it appears the sheriff was com- 
manded to take with him twelve discreet and lawful knights of 
his county, and go to the land of the Bishop of Durham in Knay- 
ton, and the land of Roger de Lascells in Kirkby Knowle, and to 
set out by metes and bounds the said respective lands. And ac- 
cordingly on St. Paul's day, in the 8th year of the said king's 
reign, the sheriff and jury proceeded to the said lands at a certain 
place called Ulnesmote,f and set out the following metes and 

* By a deed dated 20th October, 1260, William Fitz John Fitz- Alexander of Kirby 
Knowle, conveyed to Simon Bullock of Halsham, a messuage, four oxgangs of land 
with the appurtenances in Kirby Knowle, with common and pasture in Kirby Knowle, 
viz. : — By a marked dike or ditch, and from the end thereof directly to the pasture of 
Knayton, and from thence to Seathold, &c. 

t This singular word, now corrupted into Woolmoor, is full of meaning, and be- 
longs to a very early period of English history. It is derived from the Scandinavian 
word " Ulloh" — wool — tbe present Danish word for wool is " uld," — and " mote," 
Scand. — " meeting " — the Danish word is yet " mode," and the Swedish " mute " — 
that is the wool meeting or market. It may also refer to the great meeting at the 
time of sheep shearing, which was held as a festival by all the early pastoral nations- 
Here also was probably held the district or wapontake court, or " law meeting of the 
Scandinavian inhabitants," where " the Law saying man," sat and the "dooms 



236 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

divisions. — Incipiendo int predictas terras versus Occidentum ad 
divisam que est inter terrain p'd'c'i Epi' & terram Galfridi de 
Upsale, que divisa vocatur Brounemordikes, & inde descendendo 
linealiter versus Orientum usque ad quondam locum qui vocatur 
est Nobbe. Et ab illo linealiter extendendo versus Austram usque 
ad locum qui vocatur Blyndkeld. Et sic descendendo per le Blynd- 
keld Sike per medde le dede Quenshaw usque ad le overhend de 
Duneshold Sike, sicut mete et divise de novae facte apparent, 
Postea, &c* 

On the authority of a MS. in the Library of Bipon Minster, shewn 
by the late Dean Waddilove to the Rev. Mr. Elsley, it appears 
that Sir Roger de Lascells built a castle here, which was called 
Kirkby Knowle Castle ; and from the remains of the ancient 
fabric yet existing in the present mansion, we may safely refer 
the foundation to this period. 

Sir Roger died in 1297, leaving four daughters coheiresses. — 
Matilda, who married for her second husband Sir Robert de Tilliol 
about the 21st of Edward I., A.D. 1292. After his death, on St. 
George's day, 17th of Edward II., A.D. 1324, she conveyed her 
share (or fourth part) of the manor of Kirkby Knoll to Sir Robert 
le Constable and Avicia his wife, which Avicia was another 
daughter of Sir Roger de Lascelles. Elizabeth de Burgo granted 
another fourth part to the same Robert le Constable and his wife, 

men," executed his judgments on the malefactors of the district; while sacrifices 
were offered to Odin in the " high hall " adjoining at Upsall. The level area on the 
top of this hill was also a most appropriate place for the annual fair, where nobles 
and tradesmen alike attended from all the country round about. 

In the " Illustrated London News " of May 2nd, 1857, is an article in reply to a 
query respecting the derivation of this word. 

'* Vine smote. A question is asked in your paper of April 11th, respecting the deri- 
vation of the term Ulnesmote, now transformed into Woolmote. The signification of 
both is the same. The old term for wool was uloh. In the Frisian, which the 
English language so much resembles it is ulle. In Tsalm cxlvii., 5, we have " Se 
seld snaw swa swa wulle. (Who giveth snow like wool). Se wseg wulles (A wey of 
wool). Ulnesmote probably, therefore, must have signified a wool mart, or wool 
meeting, the spelling having undergone gradual transformation." H. 

* Brownemordikes, now called the dry or double dikes, are a work of considerable 
antiquity, forming a parallel line for some distance, and in one part of their course 
the boundary between the lordships of Upsall and Knayton, and for the remainder o* 
their course between those of Knayton and Kirby Knowle. This boundary has been 
a subject of dispute and litigation between the lords of Kirby Knowle, and the copy 
holders of the Bishop of Durham at Knayton for 500 years. 



NEW BUILDING. 237 

in the 3rd year of Edward III., and John Bardolph and his wife 
Elizabeth conveyed another fourth part to the widow Avicia, in 
the 13th of Edward III., A.D. 1388. So that Avicia Constable 
had one fourth of the manor of Kirkby Knowle in her own right ; 
one fourth from Matilda de Tilliol : one fourth from Elizabeth de 
Burgo, and one fourth from Elizabeth Bardolf. So the whole 
manor passed from the family of Lascelles into that of Constable.* 

This Sir Robert le Constable was the eighth in descent from the 
Constable who came over with the Conqueror, whose name appears 
in the roll of Battle Abbey. Their first settlement in Yorkshire 
was at " Emeburgh de Burton," f a name which has now yielded 
to that of Burton Constable in the East-Riding of the county. 

By an Indenture dated Nov. 18th, of Edward III., (1345) John of 
Kilvington keeper of the lands which belonged to the king's ene- 
mies, between the Ouse and the Tees, demised all the king's lands 
at Kirkby Knowle, to Sir Robert le Constable, to hold during the 
king's pleasure, at the yearly rent of 44s. From whom descended, 

Sir John Constable of Kirkby Knowle, who married first, 
Margaret daughter of John Lord Scrope of Bolton Castle, and had 
issue Henry, John, and Ralph, who died young, and Joseph, sur- 
named of Upsall ; which castle and estate at this time, came into 
possession of the family of Constable. Sir John married secondly, 
Elizabeth, (some say Catherine), daughter of Henry Neville, fifth 
earl of Westmorland, by whom he had one son. In 1559, he had 
the Seigniory, liberty, and honour of Hplderness, granted to him 
by his father-in-law. He resided at Kirkby Knowle, and by his 
will, dated " the thirteenth, day of May, in the year of our Lord 
God one thousand five hundred three score and nine," he orders his 
body to be buried in the parish church of Wassand in Holderness. 
Among other bequests is the following : — " I give and bequeath 
unto my well beloved wife (Elizabeth) all my household stuffe 
which shall be in my dwelling house at Kirkby Knowle at the 
time of my decease (all my plate onlye excepted). As for my 
niece Johan Constable, my will and meaning is that she shallbe 

• The family of Lascells bore Argent, three Chaplets gules. 
t Poulson's Antiquities of Holderness, Vol. ii., p. 238. 



238 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

maryed unto John Eastoft my ward, and that the said marriage 
shall be in full satisfaction and contenta'n of the fower hundred 
marks I stand bounde in the church of Yorke to pay hy r - " 

In a codicil, among other things he gives to John Manners his 
best horse, and to the right Honble. the Earl of Rutland his best 
hawkes. 

About the year 1568, an accidental fire broke out in the Castle, 
and destroyed the greatest part of it, of the four towers of which 
it previously consisted, only one was left entire. Tradition says, 
that part of the house was hastily pulled down to save the re- 
mainder, and that the space where the bowling green now is, was 
formerly occupied by parts of the mansion ; which at that time 
fronted eastward : and that the grass field now on that side, was 
part of the gardens, and called by the old inhabitants up to a very 
recent period " My Lady's Vineyard." The hill behind the house 
was then an open sheep walk, and the green below was full of 
large forest trees. 

Sir John began the reparation of his ruined mansion, but did 
not live to complete it. He was succeeded in his possessions by 
his son, 

Sir Henry Constable, who married Margaret daughter of Sir 
William Dormer of Ethorp in Buckinghamshire, sister of the first 
lord Dormer, by whom he had one son and four daughters. By 
an Indenture of fine, dated 32nd Elizabeth, 1590, we learn that 
he was owner of the manor of Kirkby Knowle, and of a water 
corn mill there.* 

John Constable, Esq., was the next owner of Kirby Knowle. 
He was born in 1583, and married Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph 
Creswell, of Nunkeeling and Doddington, Esquire. He had two 
sons and two daughters, although in subsequent documents we 
only find the two daughters mentioned. 

In 1635, John Constable was a popish recusant, and by an In- 
denture made in that year, it was agreed that no advantage should 
be taken of his recusancy. 

* For a minute survey and valuation of the manor of Kirkby Knowle at this 
period, see Appendix No. III. 



NEW BUILDING. 239 

On the 11th of July, 1653, a receipt was given for a fine, laid 
on the estates of John Constable, and 16th of the same month it 
appears the sequestration was taken off in favour of his co-heiresses. 

On the 11th of February, 1653, James Danby, then of York, 
gentleman, purchased the manor of Kirkby Knowle, and the 
mansion of New Building from the heiresses of John Constable, Esq. 

In 1658, a Quietus was issued to Mr. James Danby on account 
of Constable's recusancy. 

The mansion when purchased by Danby, was in a ruinous and 
dilapidated state : he repaired the old parts, and built the south 
front and western wing, and when completed gave it the name of 
New Building. Tradition reports that he employed the stones of 
the adjoining castle of Upsall in building the mansion, but this is 
hardly probable, as the fine bed of freestone behind the house, 
which has been extensively quarried, and is well adapted for 
building purposes, was of much easier access, than even the ready 
hewn stones of Upsall Castle. Danby appears to have imbibed a 
little of the puritanical spirit of the age ; an instance of which is 
given in the names of his two daughters, Ursula and Milcah. 
Danby died December 16th, 1676, and was buried in the church 
of Kir by Knowle. His wife, whose name was Thomasine, survived 
him two years, and died October 4th, 1678.* 

Leaving no male issue, the manor of Kirkby Knowle passed to 
his two daughters, Ursula, who was married to Sir Thomas 
Rokeby, Knight, one of the Justices of the King's Bench ; and 
Milcah, who was married to her sister's husband's brother, Mr. 
Joseph Rokeby, merchant. 

Few families in Yorkshire have won for themselves more 
honourable distinction than that of Rokeby ; for from the first 
year of Edward III. to the time of which we treat they had held 
high offices both in church and state, with credit to themselves and 
honour to their country. 

* " Mrs. Thomasin Danby, buried Oct. 6th, 1678. No affidavit was brought to me 
that she was buried according to y e late act, entitled a Acte fur berrying in Woollen. 
And ye Minister of ye parish of Kyrby Knowl did notify the same to the overseers of 
the said parish, the 15th of 8'ber, 1678."— Kirkby Knowle Parish Register. 



240 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The Sir Thomas Rokeby who resided here, was the second son 
of Thomas Rokeby, Esq. of Barnby, (slain at Dunbar in 1650), by 
his wife Elizabeth, sister of Sir William Bury, of Grantham in 
Lincolnshire. He was sometime fellow of Catherine Hall, Cam- 
bridge, and afterwards of Grey's Inn, and subsequently became as 
already related a judge of the court of King's Bench.* He was 
in high favour with King William III. and Queen Mary, from 
whom he received many tokens of esteem, one of which was a 
present of their portraits, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. He 
left no issue. There is a sumptuous monument to his memory in 
the chapel of Archbishop Rokeby, in Sandal Church, Lady Ursula 
Rokeby his widow, died August 10th, 1707, aged 74, and was 
buried in the church of Kirkby Knowle. 

New Building was next occupied by Joseph Rokeby, Esq. 
and his wife, and the whole estate came into their possession, 
which before they had held jointly with their elder brother and 
sister. They had two daughters, Elizabeth married to Joseph 
Buxton, Esq., and Dorothy married to James Wyndlow, Esq. 
of York, and one son, Joseph, who subsequently inherited New 
Building. 

Milcah Rokeby was a very learned lady, mistress of many 
languages, and read the scriptures in the original tongues. Many 
pieces of her writing were preserved in the library at New Building, 
in which she handled abstruse and metaphysical subjects with the 
greatest ease ; and though living to extreme old age, she was able 

* In Camden's Britannia, we have the following brief notice of New Building ; after 
speaking- of Filiskirk, he says, " Near this place, a little northward, is Kirkby Knoll, 
or Kirkby under Knoll. On the hill stood once a noble house of Roger de Lascelles. 
This came by marriage to the Constables of Halsham in Holderness. It was the seat 
of Judge Rokeby, who finding the house much out of repair, took part of it down, 
and rebuilt it in the modern taste, and called it New Bigging, afterwards called New 
Building. It is pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, and overlooks the country as 
far as York, which is thirty miles distant. It is now the seat of Francis Smyth, Esq.* 
F.A.S."— Vol. iii., p. 84. 

The statement made in the above quotation that the mansion was partly rebuilt by 
Judge Rokeby, is contradicted by an account of New Building, drawn up by the late 
Francis Smyth, Esq., an antiquary, owner of and resident at New Building, which is 
now before us, in which he positively states that the house was rebuilt by Mr. James 
Danby, and then first called New Building. 



NEW BUILDING. 241 

to hem cambric and read without spectacles to the end of her life. 
She died in October, 1726, aged 89. Her husband died about ten 
years before her. 

On her decease, Joseph Rokeby,Esq.,her son and heir entered into 
possession, in whom vested the representation of the family until 
August 1 2th, 1 741 , when he died at the age of 64. He was buried 
in the church of Kirfcby Knowle. He repaired and altered the 
mansion in, modern taste by destroying the fine old mullioned 
windows in the south front, and inserting the present sashes in 
their place. He also began the formation of the bowling green in 
front. 

Dying unmarried, the mansion and estate came to his nephew, 
Joseph Buxton, Esq., son of his sister Elizabeth, and Dorothy his 
sister ; but having by will devised one half of the estate to his said 
nephew, he became in consequence possessed of three-fourths of the 
whole. The bowling green was completed, and the present stables 
built by Mr. Buxton ; who resided here with his sister Ursula, 
who afterwards married the Rev. Mr. Oakley,* rector of Sigston. 
He was never married, and on his decease in 1766, the mansion 
and estate came into possession of Francis Smyth, Esq., son of his 
sister. Three-fourths of it had been settled on Mr. Smyth on his 
marriage in 1762 ; and on April 20th, 1766, he purchased the other 
fourth part of the co -heiresses of Mrs. Wyndlow. Francis Smyth, 
Esq.,t was the only son of Francis Smyth of Crosby Temple, in 
Essex and Sutton Hall, near Thirsk, by his wife Phebe Buxton. 
He was born on Sunday, June oth, 1737, in the city of York, re- 
ceived his school education at Wakefield, and was afterwards 
entered of Peterhouse College, Cambridge. He was married 



* u The Rev. Mr. Okeley and Madame Buxton, were married by a Licence, Dec. 8, 
1743."— Kirkby Knowle Par. Reg. 

t The family of Smyth of New Building, is lineally descended from Sir Michael 
Carrington, standard bearer to Richard I., in his expedition into the Holy Land The 
name was changed by John Carrington, Esq. ; who being forced to flee from England 
for his loyalty to Richard II., to whom he was standard bearer ; resided many years 
in Italy ; on his return to England he took the name of Smyth, and died 24th of 
Henry VI., 1446. The family first settled in Yorkshire about the beginning of the 
17th century. 

a 



242 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

October 26th, 1762, at the parish church of St. Martin's-in-the- 
Fields, Westminster, to Miss Mary Plumer. They resided at New 
Building, and had a numerous family. Mr. Smyth was a F.A.S., 
and deeply read in the antiquities of this county ; his favourite 
amusement was drawing pedigrees, in which he displayed great 
patience and research. He improved the estate by enclosing and 
cultivating the moorland district on the north of the mansion and 
by extensive plantations. On his death, April 14th, 1809, the 
whole became vested in his widow, Mrs. Mary Smyth, who died 
August 29th, 1824. By her will the mansion of New Building 
and the manor of Kirkby Knowle, were devised to trustees for 
sale. Pursuant to this trust in the year 1827, it was sold, with 
the consent of the Rev. Joseph Smyth, then vicar of Kirby Moor- 
side, (who was beneficially interested in the principal part of the 
proceeds), to Colonel Gregory Elsley of Mount St. John. This 
last named gentleman, however, never resided at New Building, 
but let it to the family of Smyth, who continued the occupation of 
their old ancestral home, until the elder branches of the family be- 
came extinct. Mrs. Elizabeth Ann, who was never married, was lady 
of the household until her death at Tynemouth Cottage, Northum- 
berland, where she had gone for the benefit of her health, Dec. 
16 th, 1853, at the mature age of 80. Mrs. Dal ton her surviving 
sister, kept up the hospitality of the mansion until her decease, 
July 16th, 1856, at the age of 79 ; when the name and family of 
Smyth ceased to exist at New Building. These venerable ladies 
" with hand open as day for melting charity " best loved the 
fashions of their youth, and the hospitality of former days was 
practised by them in the antique mansion. 

As already stated, New Building and Kirkby Knowle came 
into possession of the family of Elsley in 1827. This family is of 
considerable antiquity in Yorkshire, and appear to have been long 
settled at the village of Aldfield, near Studley Park, about three 
miles from Bipon. They had possessions in Bewerley in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth, which were sold to the Yorkes of that 
place about the year 1770. They were also possessed of the manor 
of Kirkby Malzeard, which they gave to the Rt. Hon. John 



NEW BUILDING. 243 

Aislabic of South Sea celebrity, in exchange for a farm in Thirlby 
adjoining Mount St. John, in the early part of the last century. 

Charles Elsley of Aldfield, was summoned to the Herald's Visi- 
tation in 1668. 

Samuel his son, had property at North Closes, in the parish of 
Kirkby Malzeard, where his brother Gregory founded the Gram- 
mar School. Samuel afterwards purchased an estate at Patrick 
Brompton, which is yet possessed by the family. He had two sons, 

Gregory the younger, married Miss Hanson, daughter and co- 
heiress of Lawrence Hanson, Esq. of Hartwith-curn-Winsley, and 
he and his descendants enjoyed the estate of Patrick Brompton, 
along with others in Wensleydale. 

Charles Elsley his son, married Elizabeth, daughter of the Pev. 
Heneage Bering, L.L.H., Hean of Pipon, of the Norfolk branch of 
the very ancient family of Bering, " one of the very few houses 
still existing in England of undoubted Saxon origin, and said to 
be descended in a direct line from Ethelward King of Beira." * 
Br. Bering had married Elizabeth, daughter of John Sharpe, 
Archbishop of York, whose wife was Miss Palmer of Win thorp, 
Lincolnshire ; the grandson of the Archbishop was the well known 
and esteemed Granville Sharpe. 

Charles Elsley had two sons ; Gregory who continued to reside 
at Patrick Brompton, till his death at an advanced age in 1823, 
and Heneage, who took his degree of A.B. at Peterhouse, Cam- 
bridge, in 1768, and afterwards succeeded his uncle, the Pev. 
Gregory Elsley in the Vicarage of Burneston, near Bedale, of which 
he was Vicar till his death in 1833. 

The eldest son of the above named Samuel, was the Pev. 
William Elsley, Subdean of Pipon, Prebendary of York, and 
Pector of Byther-cum-Ossendike. He purchased the lease of the 
Commandery of Mount St. John, and built the present mansion 
house there about the year 1720, which has since been enlarged 
and improved by the Elsley family. He married Miss Tancred 
of Arden Hail, and left a son 

* Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. 



244 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Gregory, who married Miss Froggatt of Kirk Deighton, ancT 
died in 1780, without issue ; having devised his estates to the Rev. 
Heneage Elsley,* Vicar of Burneston ; whose eldest son Col. 
Gregory Elsley, purchased as already mentioned, New Building 
and Kirkby Knowle, from the trustees of the Smyth family. He 
died in 1828, having devised his lately purchased estates to his 
father. Upon the death of the latter, the estates of the Elsley 
family centered in Charles Heneage Elsley, M.A., of Peterhouse, 
Cambridge, Recorder of York and Richmond, Clerk of the Peace 
for the West-Riding of Yorkshire, and late Judge of County 
Courts : he married Mary Emily, daughter of Col. Hall of Acomb, 
who was the son of General Hall of the Plantation, near Guis- 
borough, first cousin of Henry, 2nd Earl of Harewood, and brother- 
in-law of Lawrence, first Earl of Zetland. They have only one 
son, Charles Elsley, and several daughters. 

Anns. — Quarterly or and argent, five roses in saltire gules, 
seeded and barbed proper. 

Crest. — A sagittary regardant, the human part proper, the hind 
part argent, charged on the side with a like rose, drawing with 
his hands a bow and arrow proper. 

Motto, Sans Dieu rien. 

The situation of New Building is one of the most pleasing im- 
aginable, standing on the southern side of a green knoll, sheltered 
from the winds of the north and east by groves of lofty forest 
trees, and commanding extensive and beautiful views of the sur- 
rounding country. Towards the west the wide plain of York lies 
beneath the eye, bounded by the hills of Craven and Vv r ensleydale, 
a prospect rich and fair as man can desire to look upon. From 
the hill behind the mansion, on a clear day, the trains passing 
along the north-eastern railway, can be distinctly traced by the 
smoke of the engines, from leaving the station at York till entering 
that of Darlington, a distance of nearly fifty miles. In front, but 
deep below, is the humble church and village of Kirby Knowle ; a 

* The Rev. Heneage Elsley, compiled " Annotations on the Gospels and Acts of 
the Apostles," a work of great utility to divinity students. 



NEW BUILDING. 245 

short distance southward, rises from amid thick foliage, the tower 
of Filiskirk Church ; near which is Mount St. John, once a Com- 
mandery of the Knights of the Hospital ; further in the distance 
the eyes gladly rest on the towers of York Minster. Towards the 
south-west, and almost in a line, at different distances may he seen 
the historic lands of Upsall, Thirsk, and Topcliffe, associated with 
the names of Scrope, Mowbray, and Percy. South-east the view 
embraces a rich variety of mountain scenery, a picture of exquisite 
beauty. When viewed at a distance from the south, the mansion 
presents the appearance of a large square tower with watch 
turrets at the angles, with a lower wing extending to the west, 
the east being shaded by tall trees. On a nearer inspection we 
find the lofty central portion and western wing, to be the newest 
parts of the building ; the part projecting northward, with a 
square staircase tower in the early English style, may be deemed 
the oldest parts of the fabric, and probably coeval with the first 
erection by Roger de Lascelles. The roofs are flat and covered 
with lead. What appears at a distance like angle turrets, are the 
chimneys, which thus disposed serve both for use and ornament. 
On the eastern part of the front we see a proof of the fire of the 
seventeenth century, and the different arrangement of the buildings 
which took place after that event. The range of the old buildings 
extended southward, occupying part of what is now the bowling 
green, and fronting eastward. The remains of two fire places are 
to be seen on the outside of the wall, which appear to have been 
finished with great care ; they are of dressed stone, with double 
pillars on each side. The upper one is smaller than the lower, 
but in the same style, with the addition of a small niche on each 
side. The northern part is in a state of dilapidation and without 
some necessary repairs will soon fall to ruin. The woods around 
are grand and lofty — the grounds in front are not extensive but 
exceedingly pleasant. 

In the interior, the apartments are numerous, nearly fifty in 
number, and adapted for the accommodation of an extensive house 
hold. Beneath the level of the ground are vaults arched with 
stone, sufficient to contain the winter's stores of a large garrison. 



246 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

They appear of equal date with the oldest parts of the building. 
From one of these vaults, at the extreme north-west corner, a 
subterraneous passage leads, some say, to Upsall Castle. That 
such a passage exists is certain, but that it goes as far as Upsall is 
very doubtful. It was explored by the late Francis Smyth, Esq., 
a considerable distance, when his further progress was arrested by 
the fall of the roof. The entrance is now walled up. The rooms 
in the older parts are small, low, and not very convenient ; and 
have not been occupied during the last half century. In the 
modern part they are spacious and lofty, and before October, 1856, 
were fitted up in a style of massive beauty ; the walls were adorned 
with numerous pictures and family portraits, among which was a 
fine portrait of Judge Rokeby in his robes of office, by G. Schalken ; 
Ursula Lady Rokeby his wife ; King William and Queen Mary, 
presented by themselves to Judge Rokeby; Elizabeth Rokeby, 
afterwards wife of Samuel Buxton, Esq. ; Lady Catherine Scrope, 
wife of Lord Scrope of Upsall, daughter of Richard Earl of 
Cumberland; with many others, chiefly Rokebys, Buxtons, and 
Smyths. 

The staircase occupies a square tower, the steps are of oak, two 
inches thick, black and bright, and calculated to endure for 
centuries yet to come. 

The Library is a spacious room thirty feet by twenty-one, and 
of ample height ; it is in the old part of the building, and was pro- 
bably " the great Chalmer " of the Constables ; as the room below, 
now used as a kitchen, and of equal dimensions with that above, 
was the " goodlye haulle." The Library comprised about Hve 
thousand volumes, among which were some of the choicest works 
on English Antiquities and Topography extant. It was begun by 
Judge Rokeby, and the successive owners kept adding to the stock, 
until the death of Francis Smyth, Esq., when no further additions 
were made ; so that numerous as the books were there was not 
one of the present century amongst them. Here were preserved 
many curiosities and valuable family documents ; a MS. of Ralph 
Rokeby 's history of that renowned family ; a MS. copy of Lord 
Fairfax's account of the Northern wars in which he was engaged, 



NEW BUILDING. 247 

copied by his nephew, and presented to Judge Rokeby by the 
general himself ; the correspondence of the Rokebys, carefully 
preserved and bound in volumes, large masses of letters and 
accounts, not perhaps of much value then, but highly interesting 
now ; numerous MS. pedigrees of the Yorkshire families : one 
of that of Smyth on vellum, of great length and beauty. This 
room is lighted from the east, by a window of four lights, divided 
by a transom, and on the west by one of three lights divided in a 
similar manner. When we first saw this room in the spring of 
1856, a massive oak table, with richly carved legs stood in the 
centre, upon and around it lay books and manuscripts, as though 
their owner had just left the apartment ; with this exception that 
the dust and damp of antiquity were spread over the room and its 
interesting contents. "When we again saw it in the December of 
the same year, death had snatched away the owner, a sale had 
taken place, and the room was empty, the shelves were there, but 
the books were gone. In the kitchen was a massive oak table 
finely carved, bearing the date 1609. In another room, not used, 
was a single oak plank, formerly used as a table, two feet six 
inches wide, and nine feet in length, which was part of the famous 
Upsall oak ; another part of equal dimensions was formed into a 
table for the use of the farm house at Upsall Castle. The most 
singular place in the whole building is a small secret room in the 
eastern wall, adjoining the kitchen and library. It is reached by 
narrow winding passages in the thickness of the wall, and is a 
square of three feet six inches, by six feet in height. One chair 
alone constitutes its furniture. On either side are closets with 
shelves. The only place for the admittance of light and air, is a 
small aperture looking towards the east, about nine inches high by 
four wide, which opens against an angle of the building, so that 
the small air hole could not be seen from without. A stone 
exactly fitting the place can be inserted at pleasure, and then all 
is darkness. Many old Halls and Castles had these secret hiding 
places, and in the sixteenth century they were not unfrequently 
used. During the reign of Elizabeth, the Komish priests were often 
" glad to seek sweet^safety out in such vaults and prisons,'' and it 



248 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

is highly probable that this place has concealed some priests of 
that age, or perhaps the recusant Constable himself. 

When wandering through the low rooms, winding passages and 
gloomy vaults of this antique mansion, we are strongly reminded 
of the enchanted castles of romance. Or we might say with 
Southey, when describing the buried city of Baly, 

" Those rooms which never since the days of yore, 
By human footsteps have been visited ; 
Those rooms which never more 
A human foot shall tread, 
We have trod" 

Whatever may be the fate of New Building, whether it be re- 
novated, and maintain the rank it hitherto has done ; or sink by 
slow decay into a venerable ruin ; it must always be an interesting 
place, what from the romantic beauty of its situation, what from 
the illustrious families who have occupied it, and with whose names 
it must for ever be associated. 



LEAKE. 249 



LEAKE 



Leake * is the head of an extensive parish which extends north- 
ward from that of Thornton-le-Street, and lies between the river 
Codbeck and the Hambleton Hills, including within its limits the 
townships of Leake, Knayton-cum-Brawith, Borrowby, Landmoth- 
with-Catto, Gueldable, Crosby, Nether Silton, and part of Kepwick. 

A tradition exists that Leake was formerly a large town, and 
that it was destroyed by the Danes — which is not unlikely; many 
circumstances contribute to shew that it was of more importance 
formerly than at present. 

Whatever ill treatment Leake experienced from the Danes, it is 
certain that it was completely devastated by the Normans, who 
after the siege of York laid nearly the whole of the Vale of Mow- 
bray in ruins, destroying the towns and villages, and murdering 
or driving away the inhabitants. At the time of the Domesday 
Survey t Leake was waste. It is the first mentioned among the 
places belonging to the soke of Alvertune, (North Allerton). 
Again among the lands of the earl of Morton, we find the following 
brief entry relative to this place. 

"In Lece, Gamel had one manor of three carucates. It is waste." J 
Amongst the lands granted by William Eufus in 1087, to William 

* Sometimes written Leche— Lece— Lee — Leeke— probably from Lech, British — a 
stone, as cromlech, a stone table. " Llecen Fylliad, Leckonfield, the flat stone in 
the gloomy shade." — Oliver's Beverley. 

The Welsh terms for stone are Llech, maen, Karreg, from the last comes the 
English word Crag. 

t A. D. 1086. 
J Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 76. 



250 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

de Carilepho, bishop of Durham, were the following in this parish. 
In Catto, three carucates inland, or of the king's ancient demesne. 
In Landmote, three carucates inland. In Leche, two carucates 
and the lands of the church inland. In Beribi, (Borrowby) four 
carucates inland. In Kepwick, one carucate, which Kille the son 
of Erchelus held. In Crosby, three carucates, which Aldred the 
son of Sinward held. 

That some great and sudden destruction of human life has taken 
place at or near Leake, is quite evident ; for when the church- 
yard was drained in 1852, the workmen came upon a great quantity 
of human bones, which appeared as though they had been thrown 
indiscriminately into a pit. A number of silver coins were also 
found at the same time, most of which appear to have been of the 
coinage of Edward I., and some of them minted at York. From 
the manner in which they were found, all in one place, as if they 
had been hidden in a bag, we might infer that they had been 
secreted by their owner, when obliged to flee from some enemy, 
and that he had either lost his life, or never returned to regain his 
hidden treasure. It is well known that during the reign of king 
Edward II., the Scots made repeated incursions into the north of 
England, burning and destroying all before them. In 1320, under 
the command of Thomas Randolph, earl of Murray, they wasted 
the country as far as the walls of York ; again in 1322, when king 
Edward was obliged to retire from Scotland, Robert Bruce pur- 
sued him, with a small but gallant army as far as Byland Abbey, 
where a battle was fought, and the English army defeated. At 
this time the route of both armies would lie directly along the Vale 
of Mowbray, and the unfortunate parish of Leake would again feel 
the fury of the conquering Scots in their homeward march ; their 
advance would be too rapid for doing much mischief, and was 
probably made along the ridge of Hambleton ; on their return 
they could plunder and burn at leisure as they had no enemy to 
fear ; and from the coins found, and the mass of human bones, we 
should infer that Leake was destroyed at that time, that the 
money was hid on the approach of danger, and that the owner 
perished with the rest of the inhabitants. Every thing combus- 



LEAKE. 251 

tible about the church was probably burned at the same time, and 
the eastern part of it broken down and repaired some years after- 
wards in a different style.. 

The Church is a venerable and interesting fabric, consisting of 
nave, north and south aisles, chancel, porch, and a tower at the 
west end. Above the entrance of the porch is a sun dial, inscribed 
" Labitur et Labetur." 

The tower is in the Early English style, the upper story orna- 
mented with a kind of arcade, consisting of three arches on each 
face, the centre ones open forming windows ; a shaft with an 
Anglo-Norman capital divides the windows into two lights each. 
Above these arches are the half worn, grotesque heads of a corbel 
table, running round the tower just below the battlement. The 
window into the basement story consists of three lights, with 
trefoil heads. There are no buttresses to the tower or nave, which 
are evidently the oldest parts of the building. The chancel has 
two buttresses on each side, and one at each angle, of two stages 
each, which die away beneath the weather moulding. The en- 
trance door of the chancel is through one of the buttresses. The 
east window is of four lights in the Perpendicular style : those of 
the nave and clerestory are narrow of two lights each, with trefoil 
heads. The windows of the chancel are wider, of two lights each, 
with eyes open, under a square moulding. A little eastward of 
the porch, on a stone in the wall is carved the figure of a lion ; 
another stone near it appears to have been ornamented but is now 
defaced. The roof is of a low pitch and covered with lead. 

In the interior the arch opening from the nave into the base- 
ment of the tower is semicircular ; the three arches dividing the 
north aisle from the nave are also circular ; the capitals of the 
columns adorned with foliage, each different from the others. The 
arches of the south aisle are pointed ; the capital of one of the 
columns is profusely ornamented with carved oak leaves and 
acorns. From the difference in the arches we might be led to infer 
that the south aisle was of a later date than the north, which 
hardly appears to be the case. We may therefore suppose that 



252 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

this church was built at the time when the circular had not quite 
given way to the pointed arch, or rather while the two styles were 
striving for the mastery. 

The interior has been recently renovated, and presents a neat 
and clean appearance. The ends of two stalls now standing in the 
chancel, are beautiful specimens of carving on oak : the tops ter- 
minate in delicately executed finials, and at the front of each is an 
advanced pillar crowned by the figure of a nondescript animal, 
one resembling a sea lion, the other a dragon. One of them bears 
a shield, charged with crossed keys, and the syllable " iartie/' 
inscribed beneath ; the other is ornamented with a bearded figure 
bearing a book and Agnus Dei, standing on a ton, with the word 
" font}," inscribed below. — Near the bottom of the stall is the 
date of the work, 

••aim Ho. iWo. m. 19. 

p?oc. ©p. fecit * jrt." 

In the tower are three bells. Around the largest is inscribed 
in Lombardic capitals — 
O. PKT6R. SeERGD. GR6ND^E6. CMS6RL GOISeRS* 

The middle bell (cracked) bears — 

JESUS BE OUR SPEED, 1618. 

The least bell— 

FILY DEI MISERRERE MEI, 1618. 

In the year 1768, the bells were re-hung : timber for that pur- 
pose was given by the bishop of Durham, from Cotcliffe wood. 

In the middle aisle of the nave, on a large black stone is a brass, 
bearing a male and female figure, — the male habited in a gown 
with wide sleeves, with something suspended from a girdle round 
the waist. The female wears a veil over the head, her hands are 
clasped upon her breast in the attitude of prayer ; the sleeves of 
her dress have close fitting cuffs near the hands, and the bottom 
of the gown is slightly ornamented. Below the figures is the 
following inscription : 

" ffif f*or ©jjaritu p'g for ge j&ouleg of gjo&n 22Satgon, 

* This bell is supposed to have come from Rievaux Abbey after the dissolution of 
the religious houses, and to be of the age of Aelred the third Abbot, who died in 1166. 



LEAKE. 253 

gu'tgme &utittor to ge£ort) jfccroope of SEtp^all, Sr Mce i)te 
toiU & tjmr cjtffo. M\)0^ jsouleg $t$u p'tiom" 

On a marble tablet above the chancel door is inscribed — 
11 Near this place lie the remains of Charles Bisset, Doctor of Medicine, 
who was eminent both as a physician and military engineer, to which his 
works both in print and manuscript in each of these lines, will bear testi- 
mony for some succeeding ages. 

Obt. 14th Jany., 1791, iE. 75." 

Near the above is the following, also on a marble tablet — 
11 Near this place are interred the remains of Mrs. Ann Bisset, relict 
of Charles Bisset, M.D., who departed this life August 31st, 1810, M. 
76 years." 

Testamentary Burials from Torre's MSS. 
" 3 Aug., 1610, John Marske, Vicar of Leeke." 
" 5 Jan., 1637, Xpopfer Pinkney of Nether Silton, Gent." 
In 1854, the church was restored internally, when a piscina was 
found in the wall of the south aisle, where it is supposed there had 
been a small chapel. Some daubs of colour and verses from 
scripture were found on the walls of the chancel, but nothing 
worth preserving. The whole cost of the repairs amounted to 
about 370/., of which sum 42/. was obtained from the Society for 
promoting the building, enlargement, and repair of Churches, " on 
the express and acknowledged condition that 251 seats should be 
reserved for the use of the poorer inhabitants of the parish for 
ever." 

A legend exists which accounts for the situation of the church. 
It was the intention of the builders to erect it on the top of 
Borrowby Bank, a commanding eminence half a mile west of its 
present position, where it would have formed a very conspicuous 
object to a great extent of country. Materials were accordingly 
carried thither for that purpose ; when strange to say, whatever 
was carried there in the day time was removed by supernatural 
means during the night, to the place where the church now stancls. 
This settled the matter, and the church was built in its present 
situation . 

The Benifice of Leake is a peculiar Vicarage in charge. It was 
formerly a Rectory belonging to the patronage of the Bishops of 



254 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Durham, and in the Valor of Pope Nicholas IV., A.D. 1292, is 
valued at 531. 6s. Sd., while in the Nova Tax, only eighteen years 
afterwards at 261. 13s. 4d. Such diminution in value is supposed 
to have been occasioned by the wasteful inroads of the Scots. In 
the Nona Rolls, 14th Edward III., A.D. 1341, the living is re- 
turned at 32/., whereof 26s. Sd. is for the portion of the abbot of 
Bievaux. " The endowment of the church is worth 4/., and the 
tithe of hay 6/. 13s. 4^., oblations and other small tithes are worth 
10/., as hath been found on the oath of John de Hilton, Roger de 
Cowesby, John Baron, Peter Grayne, and William de Knayton." 
The Rectory was appropriated and a Vicarage ordained therein, 
July 27th, 1344 : * when to the Vicar was allotted a suit of apart- 
ments in the rectorial mansion, and the altarage of the parish, the 
tithes of hay throughout the different townships of Leake, Knay- 
ton, Landmoth, Brawith, Silton, Kepwick, Alverton, and Crosby, 
all other small tithes throughout the parish, and all other the re- 
maining rents and profits of the said church, with two oxgangs of 
land lying in the territory of Silton, with all their rights and ap- 
purtenances for ever. The endowment then reserves for the 
Rector the remaining part of the rectorial mansion, and the tithes 
of the sheaf corn of the whole parish of Leake, with the rent of 
26s. Sd., which John of Leake had been accustomed to pay, 
together with the tenths of the hay of the demesne meadows of the 
Rector under Cotcliff, and of Berghby, which are especially re- 
served for the use of the Bishop of Durham towards the support of 
his table. The endowment then ordains that the Vicar shall be 
subject to all the ordinary burthens of the said church, and liable 
to the repairs of the chancel, as well as to the furnishing of books 
and other inner ornaments of the same church to the Rector 
customarily belonging, f The first Vicar was Dm. John Harpels- 
thorpe or Applethorp. 

* Rectors of Leake, 1239, Tho. de Newarks. 1312, Dom. Will, de Handle 1319, 

Dom. Will, de Clyff. Dora. Rob. de Spinay. 

t " Ordinatio Vicarise Villse de Leek 

Mensse Episcopi Dunelm Appropriate 
Will's Permissione divina Ebor. Archiepiscopus Angliae Primus, Sedis Apostolicse 
Legatus dilecto filio Dno. Johanni Applethorp salutem, Gratiara et Benedictionem — 



LEAKE. 255 

In the Liber Regis 26th Henry VIII., (1534) we find a widely 
different statement of the value of the Vicarage. The whole in- 
come is there stated to be only 16/., made up as follows : — House, 
with three oxgaugs of land in the village of Newton, (evidently a 
mistake for the two oxgangs in Nether Silton) worth 18s. per ann. 
Liber redd, free rent, 11. 6s. 8 d., being the portion paid by the 
abbot of Eievaux for the township of Crosby. Tithes of hay 20s.. 
calves 10s.,* lambs 40s., of wool 60s., other small tithes 40s., Ob- 
lations 4/., other profits 11. 5s. 4:d. 

Amongst lands demised by Bishop Barnes to Queen Elizabeth, 
June 20th, 1578, we find " All the rectory and parsonage of Leake 
in Yorkshire, and all the tithes, oblations, profits, and commodities 
thereunto belonging, for the term of fifty years, yearly rent 18/."* 

Ad Presentationem venerabilis in Christo Patris Dne. Richardi Dei Gratia Dunelm 
Episcopi te de cujus meritis et virtutibus sinceram in Domino Fiduciam Optinemus 
ad Vicariam Ecclesiae Parochialis de Leek nostra Dioces. Mensae Episcopi Dunelm 
Appropriates per nos inferius ordinatum vacantem Admittimus intuitu Caritatis et 
Vicarium perpetuum cum onere personalis Residential juxtae Formam Constitutions 
Legati editae in hoc casu Institumius C^nonice in eadem. 

Qrdinamus insuper volumus statuimus Decernuimus in his scriptis quod vicaria 
predicta consistat in Aula Mansi Pectoris de Leek cum cameris adjunctis superius 
et inferius cum Coquina Braciatores et veteri Aula cum Clausula interiori duntaxat. 

Item, in toto Alteragio Ecclesiae Parachialis de Leek predicts, Decimus Feni de 
Leek, Knayton, Landmot, Brathwath, Suton et Kepwick, Alverton et Crosseby, ac 
in caeteris minutis Decimis Parochiee de Leek quocunque nomine Conseantur. 

Item in Kedditibus et Proventibus quibuscunque dictce Ecclesiae residuis prceter 
ilia quae inferius Reservantur, ac etiam in duobus Bovatis Terrae Dominicalis 
Ecclesiae de Leek supradictae in Territorio de Silton jacent. cum suis Juribus et Fer- 
tiuentiis universis perpetuis temporibus duratur — Residuum vero Mansi Rectoriae 
predictee ac Decimas Garbarum totius Parochiee de Leek et Annum Redditum xxvis. 
et viii<2. quce Johannis de Leek Rectori dictce Ecclesia de Leek solvere Consuevit — 
nee non Decemam Freni de Pratis Dominicalibus Rectoris subtus Coteclif et de 
Pratis de Berghby Episcopo Dunelm et ejus Mensae Episcopali specialitur Reserva- 
mus — Onera vero ordinaria qucecunque dicta Ecclesiae de Leek qualiter cunque 
incumbentia Vicarium dictse Ecclesiae de Leek qui pro tempore fuerit supportare 
Volumus et subire ; nee non ipsum vicarium ad Cancelli ejusdem Ecclesae de Leek 
Refectionem ac Librorum et aliorum ornamentorum teneri volumus perpetuis tem- 
poribus successiores — Reservata nobis Potestate Augendiet Mutandi et Dimenuendi 
dictam Vicariam et Portiones ejusdem prout ad Honorem Dei et Utiiitatem Ecclesiae 
et Animarum Parochianorum ejusdem melius videbitur Expedire Jure, Jurisdictione, 
Dignitate, Honore et Pont, nostris et Ecclesiae nostise Ebor in omnibus et per omnia 
semper Salvis. 

In Cujus Rei Testimonium Sigillum nostram presentibus est Appensum Datis 
Apud Thorp juxta Ebor. xxvijs. die Mensis Julii, Ao. Dni. 1344, et Pont nostri 
tertio." 

* Strype. 



256 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

In 1647, upon the abolishing of Archbishops and Bishops by- 
Act of Parliament, Leake was valued at , present rent per 

aim. 30/. Improvements above 50/. per ami.* 

From 1648 to 1660, the church appears to have been shut up, 
and no entries are made in the Parish Registers dining these 
twelve years. 

No living appears to have been more subject to fluctuations in 
value than that of Leake ; we extract the following particulars 
from the different terriers. 

The earliest is without date, but supposed to be about the year 
1683, and is styled " A Perfect Terrier of the Glebe and other 
Tythes and Pensions belonging to the Vicaridge of Leak," viz., 
as followeth. 

"Imp. One Vicaridge House at Leak, with an Orchard and 
Church yard at the value of 11. 6s. Sd. 

2. One piece of Glebe Land called by the name of West Ings, 
at the valew of six pounds p. annum. 

3. A peice of Glebe Land called by the name of Barleyholm, 
att three pounds ten shillings p. Ann. 

4. One little Vicaridge House at the Chappel of Silton at 4/. p. 
Annu. 

5. Crosby, Kattaw Lanmouth, and Oxbanck at 61. p. Annu. 

6. Great Leak, 15 p. Annu., Borrowby at 41. p. Annu., Knayton 
at 9/. per Annu., Silton at 12/. per Annu., Allerton Ings 30/. per 
Annu. Total 96/. 16*. Sd." 

The next Terrier bears date Sep. 12, 1716, and describes the 
various sources whence the Vicar's income is derived as in the last, 
but does not give the value ; the " Vicaridge House of Leak and 
Orchard" have disappeared, and we have " y e Parsonage Garth" 
instead. 

In 1749, we find no mention of the Vicarage House. 

" A Stable in y e Pond Garth and y e Church yard, of y e value 
of 11. 16s. 6d. 

Great Leek payeth in money 15s., a Tyth Calf 4s., a fleece Is. 6d., 
a Lamb 2s. 6 d., Hen 6d. i Offerings 2d. a communicant; Potatoes 

* Rawlinson's MSS. 



LEAKE. 257 

5s. per acre, Turnips 2s. 6d. p. acre, Apples and Pears according 
to agreement, a Pig Is., a Goose lOcl. 

Knayton, Borrowby-with-Outhouses, pay 10s., a calf and other 
things as beforesaid. 

Braweth 4s. a calf, y e rest as afores d - 

Crosby, Lanmouth, Catta, Oxbank, &c., is 61. p. annum. 

Glebe Land, called by y e Name of y e West Ings, 61. p. annum. 
' The Tythe of Allerton Ings, 11. 16s. 6d. 

Knayton Oxgang money, 19s. 4J. 

Borrowby, 13s. 4d. 

Ld Falconbridge composition for a ffarm nigh Kipwick Mill, 2s. 

Hollybour ffarm, Is. ; Leek Hill, belonging a ffarm of L d Falcon- 
bridge, called by y e Name of ffarlands, 11. ; Braweth Mill, 3s. 4^.; 
Borrowby Mill, 2s. 4 J." 

The Terrier of Nether Silton, of the same date, mentions " one 
House and Garth at 12s. a year; one Close called Barley Holm, 
4:1. a year ; Tythe Calf, 9s. ; Lamb, 2s. ; Wool, Is. 2d. a ffleece ; 
for a Goose, 9d. ; a ffoal, one penny ; Tyth Hay lOd. a day mow- 
ing ; Easter offerings, 2d. a Communicant ; Surplice ffees of os. a 
marriage by Banns, & Is. a ffuneral." 

In that of Sep. 11th, 1760, the garth at Leke, called the Pond 
garth, is estimated at half-an-acre ; the Barley holme in Silton at 
nine-and-a-half acres ;. and the West Ings at eighteen-and-a-half 
acres. At that time the tithes of the different townships were 
let as follows : — 

Leake without Kepwick 
Boroughby and Gueldable 
Knayton-cum-Brawith 
Allerton Ings 

Silton, not let, but worth yearly 
Four Houses at Kepwick, id. each at Easter 
Lanmouth, Cattowe, Oxbank, Oxmoore, Marygold Hall, and > 
Crosby-Modus .. .. .. .. ^ 

Mortuaries and Surplice ffees (communibus annis) 

Total 

The Terrier of July 24th, 1770, is nearly similar to the last, and 
gives the value at " about 80/." with the addition of the church 
furniture. 



£ 


s. 


d. 


3 


10 





16 








21 








2 








20 











1 


4 


6 








4 








72 


11 


4 



258 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

" Leeke — one spade, one shovel, one mattock, two ladders, 3 
bells, 2 surplices, 2 pewter flaggons, 2 pewter plates, 1 silver 
chalice — weight 13oz. 12 dwts. avoirdupois, 2 alms' boxes, 1 large 
chest, one black woollen table cover, 1 white linen do., 1 napkin, 
1 looking glass, 1 large Bible, three large books of common prayer." 

" Silton — 2 bells, 1 bier, 1 surplice, 1 black table cover, 1 nap- 
kin, 1 pewter flaggon, 1 silver chalice, 1 pewter plate, 1 alms' 
box, 1 chest, 1 Bible, 1 common prayer book." 

The Apportionment of the Tithes of the Parish of Leake, under 
the Tithe Commutation Act was made Dec. 10th, 1859. John Job 
Rawlinson, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, Commissioner. Valuer for 
Leake, Borrowby, Gueldable, Knayton, Brawith, Landmoth-with- 
Catto, and Crosby, William Simpson, Esq., of Nunthorp. For 
Silton, Henry Scott of Oulston, and Henry John Turner of Rich- 
mond, Esqrs. Notice is taken of the different Moduses of 15s. 
paid for Hay in Leake, of lOd. a day mowing in Silton, of 135. 
4 d. on Borrowby and Gueldable, of 19s. 4d. on Knayton, and 61. 
on Landmoth, Catto, and Crosby. 

The Impropriate Rectors, to whom the rent charge in lieu of 
corn tithe is payable, are the Trustees under the will of the late 
Peter Consett, Esq. 

On the formation of the new Diocese of Ripon in 1836, " all the 
manors, messuages, farms, lands, tenements, minerals, royalties 
and other possessions of the Bishop of Durham, situated in How- 
den and Howdenshire, Northallerton and Allerton shire, Borrowby, 
Brompton, Romanby, Osmotherley, and Sowerby Grange, all in 
the county of York. The patronage of the benefice of Birkby, 
Osmotherley, Leah-ivith- Nether- Silton, and Craike, were trans- 
ferred from the Bishop of Durham to the Bishop of Ripon," and 
who is now consequently patron of the living of Leake, owner of 
Co tt cliff wood, and lord of the manor of Borrowby. 

The present Vicar, the Rev. Thomas Albin Atwood, M.A., re- 
sides at Knayton. 

The charities of the parish are — for the poor of the township of 
Borrowby, the rent of a close containing rather less than an acre, 
to be distributed amongst poor widows, donor unknown. Rent 





LEAKE. 




259 




charge of 20s. per ann. Half 
of the money is bestowed 
in tea to poor widows, and 
the other half is for teach- 
ing a poor boy to read — 
origin unknown. Bent 
charge of 51. per annum for 
teaching four poor boys to 
read and write, and find- 
ing them in books and sta- 
tionery — donor unknown. 

To the poor of the town- 
ship of Knayton, "William 
Arming's gift, interest of 
20Z. laid out in bread. 
George Harland by will, 
dated 29th of April, 1807, 
gave a rent charge of 51. 
per ann., charged on an al- 
lotment called Gravel Moor 
Field, for educating six of 
the poorest children in the 
township. 

We transcribe both the 
matter and manner of John 
Brown's gift from a board 
in the church. 

" John Brown of Knay- 
ton, in the parish of Leke, 
and Mary Brown my wife, 
having lost Mary Brown 
our only daughter dear, for 
Christ's sake did agree to 


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leave in trust to the Minisfr 
and Overseers of the poor < 
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this Church & the Churc 
Lnayton, and to their hui 
a year, who are desired < 


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idred 
squal 


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3 foi 


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> 



260 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

distribute it amongst the poor people of Knayton-cum-Brawith, 
in the manner and at the times following for ever, viz. : — On the 
Sacrament day of St. Michael, 4s. 4d. to be laid out in white bread. 
On the evening before Christmas Eve, 6s. 8d. in wheat. On 
Christmas Bay, 4s. 4 d. in bread. On Easter day, 4s. 4d. in bread. 
And on Whit-Sunday, 4s. 4d. in bread. Only one in a house, and 
such as swerve not in any respect from the Church of England, to 
partake of this small alms, and all are requested to receive the 
Sacrament on Sacrament days. 

For other particulars respecting this charity, see the town's 
Book of Knayton. Sept ye 23, Anno Dom. 1768." 

The Parish Registers commence in 1570 ; imperfect from 1676 
to 1680, and lost from 1680 to 1695. They are generally speaking 
in a good state of preservation. From 1673 to 1705, all the bodies 
are said to have been interred in woollen " according to the direc- 
tions of the late Acte for burying in woollen." 

Stone coffins have frequently been found by the Sexton in the 
churchyard, when digging graves, mostly to the north-east of the 
church. 

In a field east of the Churchyard, foundations of buildings can 
be distinctly traced by green ridges, and on digging into the 
ground fragments of walls and heaps of stones are found. Are 
those the remains of the Aula Mansi Rectoris de Leek, mentioned 
in the endowment, the " One Vicaridge House " of the earliest 
terrier, or the foundations of some village destroyed in the Scottish 
invasions ? 

Leake, formerly called a manor in the 16th and 17th centuries, 
was in possession of a family of the name of Danby, in which it 
continued until 1697, when Robert Danby, Esq., disposed of it to 
Edmund Bars tow, Esq. of Northallerton ; who after successive 
mortgages to Robert Earl of Holderness, Sir Robert Eden, and 
Nathaniel Ellison, D.D., sold the estate to Mary Smith of Durham, 
in trust for George Smith, of Burn Hall in the county of Durham, 
Esq. In 1756, on the marriage of his daughter with Anthony 
Salvin of Sunderland, Esq., the same George Smith settled the 
estate upon Anthony Salvin and his said daughter ; and it 



LEAKE. 261 

continued in the Salvin family until 1788, when it was conveyed to 
Samuel Popple well, Thomas Walton, and Henry Hirst, Esqrs., of 
whom it was purchased in 1803 by Warcop Consett, Esq., and is 
at present held by the Trustees under his will. 

Leake Hall is an antique building near the church, partly 
modernised, yet retaining the principal features of an old English 
manor house of the 16th century. The staircase is wide, and the 
steps of massive oak, black and bright ; the rooms are spacious 
and lofty, some of them wainscotted with oak, neatly carved and 
ornamented with armorial shields. 

The family of Morton, now tenants of the Hall, has occupied it 
from father to son for more than a century. 

A road leading from the Hall to a field on the north side of the 
church, is called " the Danes' lane." 

There is a close called " Burying Garth," adjoining the turnpike 
road from Thirsk to Yarm, a little northwards of the church, so 
named from the burial there of thirty-two cows and as many 
young cattle, which perished in the fatal distemper of 1749. 

The population of the township of Leake does not exceed a 
dozen souls. 



262 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



UPSALL. 



Upsall* is situated four miles north-east of Thirsk, and is chiefly 
remarkable as the site of a Castle, where the lords Scrope of Upsall 
and Masham resided for the space of two hundred years. The 
situation is pleasant, on the south-western slope of a detached hill, 
overlooking the country west, north, and south, to a considerable 
distance. 

Of the early history of this place we have no account : the pro- 
bability is, that it derived its name from the Scandinavian invaders 
of England, who in the ninth century, drove out, or subdued 
the Anglo Saxons, and established an independent kingdom in 
Northumbria. 

A learned Dane, in a recent work on England says, " Even the 

* The name is evidently derived from some castle, hall, temple, or remarkable 
building- on the hill — Up, a hill — and Sail, a Hall — that is, the Hall on the hill, or the 
High Hall. The following derivation was given us by Thomas Wright, Esq., F.S.A. 

" The derivation of Upsall is either from * Up,' an upland, and ' Sail,' a hall ; or 
else, what I consider more probable, from Upper Hall, in contradistinction to some 
other Hall or Castle, as we now say ' High Hall,' and * Low Hall.' ' Sail,' being the 
Anglo Saxon name for a Hall, (the French Salle is derived from the Teutonic Franks). 
Amongst all the Teutonic and Saxon races, the hall was beyond all comparison, the 
most important and remarkable part of a chief's house, and except perhaps the earth- 
works around, that of most distinction. The whole residence was spoken of as 
* the Salle,' now ' the Hall,' as is the case with many manorial houses." 

The names of twenty places in Yorkshire are composed in the same manner of 
' Sail," and some personal, or descriptive appellation as Gomersal, Elmsall, Odsall» 
Campsall, Loversall, Tyersall, &c. 



UPSALL. 263 

name of one of the most important sacrificial places in the Scandi- 
navian north is to be found in Yorkshire, in Upsal, (from Upsalir, 
the high halls)." * 

Perhaps we should not greatly err in supposing that before the 
conversion of the Danes to Christianity, they paid religious worship 
and offered sacrifice to Odin, in a " high hall," or temple on this 
hill ; the site is appropriate, for the gods were worshipped in 
sacred groves and forests, on heaths, and on " holy mountains," 
and that this spot received its name from the high place of sacrifice 
in the north is highly probable. 

" the northmen came ; 
Fixed on each vale a Runic name, 
Beard high their altar's rugged stone, 
And gave their Gods the land they tvou." 

At the time of the Domesday Survey, this place formed part of 
the vast estate of the earl of Morton, and is recorded thus : — " In 
Upsale three villanes have one plough. Richard has it of the earl. 
Wood and plain one mile and a half long and the same broad." f 

Soon afterwards, Upsall with large possessions in the neigh- 
bourhood, passed into the hands of the Mowbrays, who parcelled 
out the lands among their retainers or dependents, and a chief 
who derived his surname from the place became owner of Upsall. 
The history of this family is very meagre, the first of the name we 
find recorded is Hugh de Upsall, who resided here, and held 
Eirkby Knowle of the heirs of Baldwin Wake, about the year 1277. 

In 1297, Richard de Upsall presented Richard de Rokesburgh 
to the rectory of South Xilvington. 

In 1303, Isabella de Upsall was lady here, and exercised her 
right of patronage, by presenting Thomas de Waddyley to the 
same rectory. 

In 1315, Galfred de Upsall was lord of Upsall, and sold to the 
Abbey of Byland an annuity of five marks out of his water mill in 
Kilvington, which Hugh his son and Pope Gregory the Tenth 
confirmed. J 

* Worsaae's Danes and Norwegian's in England, p. 69. 
t Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 76. i Burton's Mon. Ebor., p. 333. 



264 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

He was one of 24 knights temp. Edward II., who, on the com- 
plaint of Oliver Sandbus of York, were ordered to inquire, survey, 
and certify the accustomed bounds of the fish ponds on the river 
Foss, and ascertain the profits belonging thereto.* He was living 
in 1349, and was the last of the family who resided here. 

A castle, manor house, or hall, is said to have been erected at 
Upsall about the year 1130, when Roger de Mowbray, son of 
Nigel Albini, was superior lord of the fee. What kind of building 
this was we know not ; yet from the time of its erection, we may 
suppose the walls were of great thickness, the windows few and 
narrow, and the apartments gloomy and uncomfortable. 

From the de Upsalls the castle and manor passed to the Scropes 
of Masham and Upsall, with whom they continued until that line 
became extinct. 

The Scropes are first mentioned as owners of lands in Yorkshire 
in the reign of king John. They flourished for many descents at 
Bolton in Wensleydale ; till John lord Scrope of Bolton, who 
married a daughter of Roger de Mowbray, the third of that name, 
who died in 1299, by whom he had two sons : the eldest became 
possessed of Bolton, and Sir Geoffrey the other of Upsall. Sir 
Geoffrey was possessed of large estates in Yorkshire, and obtained 
from king Edward II. a licence to castellate his house at Clifton- 
upon-Yore ; and had at the same time free warren in all his 
demesne lands at Clifton, Masham, Upsall, Thornbrough, Kil- 
vington, and Parnwick in Yorkshire, and at Walton in Northum- 
berland. In the 1 7th year of the same monarch, he was constituted 
chief Justice of the court of King's Bench ; as he was in the 4th 
and 6th of Edward III. ; being the next year sent abroad on the 
king's affairs, he resigned his judicial office. He was afterwards 
in the wars of Flanders, and attained the rank of Banneret. 

By his wife Ivetta he had issue, Henry his successor, and John. 
The gallant and learned lord Geoffrey died in 1340, when his 
eldest son 

Henry le Scrope, succeeded to his estates ; who in the 5th of 
Edw T ard III. was engaged in the wars of Scotland ; when a few 

• Drake's Eboracuin, p. 303. 



ursALL. 265 

of the English nobility placed Edward Baliol on the throne of 
that kingdom. In 1334, he was summoned to parliament as a 
baron, and attended from that period to the 15th of Richard II., 
1391. In 1344, he was engaged in the wars in France, under the 
command of the earl of Derby. The year following he was one of 
the nobles who fought the battle of Neville's Cross, in which 
David king of Scotland was defeated and taken prisoner. He 
died in 1391. His wife was Phillipa, daughter of Guido de Brien, 
whe died in 1406, and was buried in York Minster.* 

Their sons were Stephen, lord Masham and Upsall, and William, 
created earl of Wiltshire. 

Without direct evidence for fixing the date of the rebuilding of 
Upsall Castle from the style of its architecture, we should refer it 
to the age of the third Edward, and say that the work was begun 
by lord Geoffrey and completed by his son Henry. The fragments 
that remain point it out as a structure of that period, when the 
gloomy fortress began to give place to the spacious hospitable 
mansion, embattled only for ornament, yet not entirely without 
the means of defence. " As the necessity of defence and seclusion 
abated with the exigencies of the times, the palaces and great 
manor houses were constructed with more ornaments. These 
were ingrafted upon, or mixed with the ancient military manner 
of building. Towers at the angles were retained, but were now 
richly parapetted and embattled. Superb portals and gateways 
rose from the centre of the building, wide windows were perforated 
through the external side walls, and the projecting, or bay win- 
dows, were worked into forms of most capricious embellishment." 
From what remains, we can easily imagine, that in its age of 

* An inscription in St. Stephen's Chapel in York Minster, extant in Leland's time is 
decisive as to who was the wife of this Henry le Scrope, and when she died. Burke, 
" Extinct and dormant Baronage," p. 474, leaves her name blank, and afterwards in- 
serts her as the first wife of Sir Henry le Scrope, who was beheaded in 1415. 

" Philippa, wife of Henry lord Scrope of Masham, daughter of Guy, lord Brien, 
died, Nov. 19, 1406." 

The following- inscriptions relating to the Scrope family were also in the same place, 

"Thomas de Masham, dominus le Scrope vir nobilis obiit f. ... in facello 

S. . . .duas cantarias." 

" Henry the eldest son of John lord Scrope, 1418." 

" Stephen le Scrope, Archdeacon of Bichmond, died , 1418." 



266 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

greatness, the castle of Upsall was a splendid monument of feudal 
grandeur ; surrounded by gardens and vineyards ; the home pre- 
cinct to the southward, occupied by a large park, and its turrets 
commanding extensive prospects over the wide and fertile vale 
of York. 

Sir Stephen le Scrope, second baron of Masham and Upsall, was 
summoned to parliament from 23rd November, 1392, to 1st Jan- 
uary, 1406. He received the honour of knighthood in the life 
time of his father ; and distinguished himself both by sea and land. 
He married Margery, widow of John de Huntingfield, by whom 
he had four sons ; Henry his successor ; John, afterwards lord 
Scrope of Masham and Upsall ; Stephen, Archdeacon of Richmond ; 
and William. 

Sir Stephen died in 1406, possessed of large estates in the 
counties of Essex, Notts, Stafford, Lincoln, and York. 

Sir Henry le Scrope, third baron, was summoned to parliament 
from 26th August, 1408, to 26th September, 1414, as lord Scrope 
of Masham. In 1409, he was made treasurer of the King's Exche- 
quer ; and the next year, in consideration of his great abilities, 
and also the necessity of his presence in parliament and council, 
had assigned to him during his stay in London, the towns of 
Hampstead and Hendon in Middlesex, for lodging and entertain- 
ment of his servants and horses. 

In the reign of Henry V., lord Scrope was appointed ambassador 
to treat with the French. The terms he offered were rejected by 
the French court ; and Scrope himself was won over to become 
party in a conspiracy to kill the king ; and to proclaim the earl of 
March in his stead. His confederates in this design being Richard, 
earl of Cambridge, who having espoused the sister of the earl of 
March, was zealous in the interests of that family, and sir Thomas 
Grey of Heaton. 

In the latter end of July or beginning of August, 1415, when 
" the well appointed king was about to embark his royalty at 
Hampton pier," the conspiracy was detected, the parties thereto 
at once acknowledged their guilt, and the king proceeded without 
delay to their trial and execution. 



IJPSALL. 267 

The head of Scrope was sent to York, to be placed over Mickle- 
gate Bar, as a warning to traitors ; and a mandate came along 
with it, (yet preserved in the city's oldest register), to the lord 
Mayor, to confiscate the estate and effects of the said Henry lord 
Scrope. 

Scrope was a person in whom the king had such great confi- 
dence, that nothing of public or private concernment was done 
without him ; his gravity of countenance, modesty of deportment, 
and religious discourse, being always such, that whatsoever he 
advised was held as the fiat of an oracle. 

Some historians relate that the conspirators were bribed by the 
French court to kill the king, and that they received a million of 
French livres as a reward for their treachery. 

This Sir Henry le Scrope married Joan, duchess of York, 
daughter of Thomas Holland earl of Kent. She had married first, 
Edmund Langley, Duke of York, fifth son of king Edward III. 
Secondly, William Lord TVilloughby. Thirdly, Henry, Lord 
Scrope ; and surviving him, lastly, Hemy Bromfiete, Lord Yescy. 
Sir Henry left no issue, and was succeeded by his brother, 

Sir John le Scrope, who, on the death of his brother Stephen, 
Archdeacon of Richmond, in 1418, on doing his homage, had 
livery of his lands ; and immediately thereupon, by consent of the 
lords in parliament, obtained a grant from the king, of the farms 
and rents of all those lordships, which came to the crown by the 
attainder of his brother, to hold for four years. This Sir John le 
Scrope wrote himself of Masham and Upsall, and was summoned 
to parliament as lord Scrope of Masham and Upsall, from 7th 
January, 1426, to 26th May, 1455 ; having previously according 
to Nicolas, in 1421, obtained a restoration of his brother's honours 
and inheritance. He was afterwards in high favour at court, and 
constituted treasurer of the King's Exchequer. He married 
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Chaworth, and had issue John, 
who died in the life-time of his father, (buried in York Minster, 
in 1418) ; Thomas who succeeded him in the barony ; and two 
daughters, Alianore and Elizabeth. Sir John died in 1456, and 
was succeeded by his son, 



268 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Thomas le Scrope, fifth baron, who was summoned to parliament 
from 9th October, 1459, to 19th August, 1472. He was designed 
by his father to marry a daughter of lord Greystoke, but it does 
not appear that the marriage took place, nor is it certainly known 
to whom he was married. He left four sons, Thomas, Henry, 
Ralph, and Geoffrey, successively barons Scrope ; and three 
daughters, Alice married to James Strangways, Esq. ; Mary, who 
9th Henry VII., 1493, married Sir Christopher Danby of Thorpe 
Perrow, near Bedale ; and Elizabeth, who married Sir Ralph Fitz 
Randolph of Spennithorn, knight. 

Thomas le Scrope died in 1475, and was succeeded in the barony 
by his eldest son, also named 

Thomas, then a minor. He was summoned to parliament from 
15th November, 1482, to Aug. 12th, 1492. He married Elizabeth, 
daughter and co-heiress of John Neville, Marquis of Mont acute, 
by whom he had an only daughter Alice, who married her rela- 
tion, Henry, lord Scrope of Bolton. The font in the parish church 
of South Kilvington, bears the name of this lord Scrope and his 
wife. The general tradition is that it was removed from the 
chapel at Upsall Castle ; it is not unlikely that this baron repaired 
and renovated parts of his family mansion. His lordship died in 
1494, and the barony then devolved upon his daughter Alice, wife 
of Lord Scrope of Bolton ; but at her decease in 1501, it reverted 
according to Nicholas, to her ladyship's uncle 

Sir Henry le Scrope, seventh baron, summoned to parliament, 
28th November, 1511. His lordship leaving no issue, the barony 
came to his brother, 

Sir Ralph le Scrope, eighth baron, who had summons to par- 
liament in the 6th of Henry VIII. By his will bearing date, M. 
1515, he bequeathed his body to be buried before our Lady of 
Pity in Rievaulx Abbey, shortly after which he died, for the pro- 
bate of his will bears date March 19th following — dying without 
issue, his brother, 

Geoffrey le Scrope, a clerk, succeeded to the barony, but was 
never summoned to parliament, who after enjoying the title about 
two years, died also childless, M. 1517, in consequence of which 



LPSALL. 269 

the estates became divided amongst his three married nieces, the 
daughters of Thomas le Scrope, sixth baron, and the title fell 
into abeyance amongst their posterity, where it yet continues. 

Thus the line of Scrope ceased to exist at Upsall, after a 
possession of nearly two hundred years, and we reluctantly bid 
adieu to that renowned race. Along with the kindred branch of 
Bolton, this family produced in the interval of 300 years : — two 
Earls, and* twenty Barons, one Chancellor, four Treasurers, and 
two Chief Justices of England, one Archbishop, two Bishops, five 
Knights of the Garter, and numerous Bannerets. And after the 
extinction of the two baronial lines of Bolton and Upsall, the 
blood of Scrope continued its illustrious course in the minor 
branches of Cockerington in Lincolnshire, and Danby in Wensley- 
dale, the last of which yet dwells near the spot where grew the 
stem, from which the many famous branches sprung. 

Here would we pause, and if we had the power survey the 
castle of Upsall as it was left by the Scropes, enter every room it 
contained. 

" From battlement to basement, 
From flanking tower to flanking tower," 

And tell our readers what was in them all, so that they might 
know what the dwellings of England's heroes were in the ages of 
feudal magnificence ; but that we cannot do, no record of that 
kind has fallen into our hands ; and time and violence have left 
but fragments of the walls, and tradition has but few stories to 
tell of the pomp and circumstance of its lordly owners. Before 
the western front lay the pleausance which were singularly rich 
and fertile, one portion was styled " My Ladies Vineyard."* 

* " There is no doubt the vine was very common until a few centuries ago, from 
the name of " Vineyard" being so frequently attached to a plot of ground near to the 
ruinous sites of some of our Yorkshire Castles. In the 13th and 14th centuries every 
large castle and monastery in England had its vineyard. These vineyards were pro- 
bably continued till the time of the Reformation, when the ecclesiastical gardens 
were either neglected or destroyed ; and about this period, ale, which had been 
known in England for many centuries, seems to have superseded the use of wine as 
a general beverage. The circumstances which produced this change were princi- 
pally the decay of the vineyards, the encouragement of the growth of grain, and the 
culture of hops ; which offered a beverage to the people much cheaper and perhaps 
as exhilarating." 



270 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Another bore the name of " St. Cecilia's Grove," (were some of 
the ladies Scrope devotees of music and selected this spot to imi- 
tate the strains of their divine patroness ?) In the grounds was 
also a maze or labyrinth, known by the name of " the Puzzle 
Bush." A large weeping elm which grew in the garden was 
called " Rosalind's Bower." 

" the pleached bower, 
Where honeysuckles ripen'd by the sun, 
Forbid the sun to enter." 

The Park extending over hill and vale to a considerable dis- 
tance, was famous for its red deer. 

It is singular, that though the Scropes were owners of all 
Mashamshire they never had a seat in the parish of Masham ; 
Clifton, their nearest residence is in the parish of Watlass, but 
Clifton as we learn from Leland, was only a tower or castle t, so 
that their general residence must have been at Upsall.* 

On the division of the estates in 1520, amongst the three 
daughters of Thomas le Scrope, sixth baron, Upsall Castle, with 
the manor and estate thereunto belonging, fell to the share of 
Elizabeth, wife of Sir Ralph Fitz Randolph, knight, of Spenni- 
thorn ; f by whom she had one son, who died in his father's life- 
time, and five daughters. 

On the demise of Lady Fitz Randolph, she devised the manor 
and castle of Upsall to her youngest daughter Agnes, wife of Sir 
Marmaduke Wyvill. % 

Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, was M.P. for the borough of Ripon in 
the year 1553, he was three times married, and by his first wife 
Agnes he left a son and heir, 

Christopher Wyvill, Esq., who inherited Upsall and the family 

* Whitaker's Richmondshire, Vol. ii., p. 105. 

f The family of Fitz Randolph came originally from Normandy with William I., on 
his invasion of England, and settled in Yorkshire in that age. 

t This family (of knightly degree since the conquest) is of Norman extraction, of 
the name of Vienville, which family was in being in France in 1848. Sir Humphrey 
d' Wyvill, came into England with William the Conqueror ; his name is found in- 
scribed on the roll of Battle Abbey. He acquired a fair share of the spoils of the 
conquest and seated himself in Yorkshire, where his descendants the Wyvills of 
Constable Burton, represented by Marmaduke Wyvill, Esq., M.P., remain to this 
day. 



ursALL. 271 

estates ; he married Margaret, daughter of the Hon. John Scrope, 
younger son of Henry Lord Scrope of Bolton, by Elizabeth his 
wife, daughter of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. 

From causes which we are unable to explain, Upsall passed 
from Christopher Wyvill into the hands of the crown, and was by 
Queen Elizabeth, in 1577, granted to John Farnham, with a re- 
served rent to the crown of 40/. per annum for holding the castle. 
The original grant is yet in possession of Captain Turton, the 
present owner of Upsall. 

Early in the reign of James L, the castle and estate of Upsall 
were owned by Joseph Constable, Esq., son of Sir John Constable 
of Burton Constable, in the East Riding of this county, who 
married Mary, daughter of Thomas Crathorn, Esq., and had issue, 
John, born in 1583 ; Joseph, an officer in the royalist army, slain at 
Cropready Bridge, 1645 ; Anevilla, baptised at South Kilvington,* 
she married in 1610, Thomas Smith, Esq., of Egton Bridge, near 
Whitby ; and Mary married to William Tocketts, Esq., of Tocketts 
Hall, near Guisborough. 

John Constable, eldest son of the above Joseph Constable, be- 
came possessed of Upsall. He married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Ralph Cresswell of Nunkeeling and Doddington, Esq., and had 
issue, Joseph and Rodolphus ; the latter of whom resided here in 
1610.f John Constable during the civil wars of the seventeenth 
century, was a firm supporter of the royal cause. In 1642, he 
raised and equipped several troops of horse among his tenants and 
neighbours, J and drilled and manoeuvred them on Knayton and 
Upsall commons. He was a most accomplished cavalry officer, a 
fearless rider, and good swordsman. His life was one 

" Of moving- accidents by flood and field ; 
Of hair breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly breach." 

He fought at Marston Moor, and after the overthrow of the royal 
cause, knowing himself obnoxious to the ruling power, he fled to 
Holland, where, after an exile of a few years, he died of a broken 

* " 1589, Anevilla filia Josephi Constable ; Upsall baptizata fuit, Jan. lo. " 
+ " 1610, Robertus films Eadulphi Constable, Upsall Milet. bap. erat, Feb- 
ruarii 10o." — South Kilvington Parish Reg. 

X Echard's History, and Pari Tracts, in the library of Captain Turton. 
X " Captain Turton has an excellent portrait of this officer in armour. 



272 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

heart.* He is said to have left a curse on any owner of Upsall 
who should prove disloyal to his king and country. Besides a 
son Joseph, he left two daughters, Everild, who accompanied her 
father in his exile, and Elizabeth. 

Joseph Constable, Esq., was the next owner of Upsall, of whom 
very little is known. 

We next find the manor and estate of Upsall in possession of 
William Constable, Viscount Dunbar, who married Elizabeth, 
eldest daughter of Hugh, second Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, but 
having no issue by her, his estates, in virtue of a special entail, de- 
volved on his nephew, Cuthbert Tunstall, Esq. ; who in 1 718, assumed 
by royal sign manuel the name of Constable. He married Amy, 
daughter of Hugh, Lord Clifford of Ugbrooke, and had issue, 
William, who died in infancy; another William, born in 1722 ; 
Cecilia, born in 1724 ; and Winefrid, born in 1730, died May 
23rd, 1774. 

Cuthbert Constable died March 14th, 1747, aged 66, and was 
buried at Halsham ; he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, 

William Constable, Esq., who in the year 1768, sold the castle 
and estate of Upsall, to William Chapman, Esq., of Stockton-on- 
Tees, who shortly afterwards re-sold it to John Turton, Esq., of 
Brasted Park in the county of Kent. 

This last gentleman was a physician of considerable eminence, 
and enjoyed the personal friendship and esteem of many of the 
leading and learned men of his time ; amongst whom may be 
named the King and Queen, the Prince of Wales afterwards 
King George IV. ; Henry, ninth earl of Newcastle ; William, first 
earl of Mansfield (a splendid portrait of this nobleman is yet 
possessed by the Turton family) ; Shenston, the poet, and Sheridan, 
the brilliant wit and orator. In his youth he entertained a 



* During Constable's exile in Holland, he compiled a treatise in the style of the 
Icon Basilike, and The Princely Pelican, said to have been written by the king— of 
this treatise we are not aware of any remains, except the theme or heading — 

" Rebus in adversis facile est contemnere vitam, 
Fortiter ille fecit qui miser esse potest." 



UPSALL. 273 

romantic affection for the princess Mary, afterwards Duchess of 

Gloucester.* He subsequently married Mary, daughter of 

Kitehingman, Esq., but had no issue. On the decease of his wife 
he bequeathed the estates of Brasted in Kent, Upsall, Roxby, 
Olstead, and Larpool Hall, near Whitby, in Yorkshire, to Edmund, 
third son of the Rev. William Peters, M.A., F.R.S. ; f wno > 

• The following- extracts from the Globe, and Times] newspapers refer to this ro- 
mantic attachment. 

" We can state on authority that the paragraph that has been going the round of 
the press, that the late Dr. Turton left the whole of his immense revenues to the 
lamented Duchess of Gloucester, is untrue. Dr. Turton, although an intimate friend 
of all the royal family, and physician in ordinary to George lit., and H.R.H. Prince 
of Wales, bequeathed the whole of his immense fortune, barring a few legacies, to 
his wife, from whom it passed to the late Edmund Turton, Esq., of Brasted Park, 
Kent, and Kildale, Yorkshire; and is now possessed by Captain Turton, 3rd Dragoon 
Guards, who married the Lady Cecilia Leeson, eldest daughter of the Earl of Mill- 
town, of Russborough, county of Wicklow." — The Globe, May 1th, 1S5T. 

" Amongst the incidents ot Her Royal Highness's (the late Duchess of Gloucester) 
early life, may be mentioned the romantic attachment entertained for her by Dr 
Turton, of Brasted Park, a celebrated physician of the last century ; but the state- 
ment of his having bequeathed his property to the illustrious object of his affection 
is altogether untrue." — The Tunes, May, 1857. 

t The Rev. W. Peters was rector of Knipton-Woolsthorpe, in Leicestershire, Pre- 
bendary of Lincoln, and Chaplain to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, after- 
wards king George IV. He married Margaret, daughter and coheiress of the Rev. 
John Knowsley, M.A., of Burton Flemming in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and 
had by her three sons and two daughters. He was also a painter of considerable 
note, and a favourite pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Among his works yet preserved 
by his descendants are some exquisite portraits — " The Merry Wives of Windsor," 
which has had an extended reputation, and been repeatedly engraved, and many 
others. The sarcastic Peter Pindar composed the following ode on " The Angel and 
Cnild," one of his productions — 

I. 
" Dear Peters ! who like Luke the Saint, 
A man of gospel art and paint, 
Thy pencil flames, not with poetic fury ! 
If Heaven's fair Angels are like thine, 
Our bucks methinks — O Grave Divine ! 
May meet in th' other world the nymphs of Drury. 

II. 
That infant soul I do not much admire, 
It boasteth somewhat more of flesh than fire, 
The picture Peters, cannot much adorn ye — 
I'm glad though that the red faced little sinner, 
Poor soul ! hath made a hearty dinner, 
Before it ventured on so long a journey." 
In Captain Turton's possession is also a copy of Carlo Dolce's famous picture, 
" The Salvator Mundi," which Mr. Peters truthfully copied, through permission of 
the Earl of Exeter, when on a visit to that nobleman at Burghley House. 

s 



274 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

when he became seized of the estates thus left him, assumed the 
name of Turton. 

Edmund Turton, Esq., was born April 27th, 1796. In 1817, 
on being presented with the freedom of the borough of Hedon, he 
gave to the burgesses the sum of 200 guineas, and to the Church 
of St. Augustine's in that town, a large and handsome silver com- 
munion cup. * 

In the following year he stood a contest for the representation 
of Hedon in parliament, and was returned at the head of the polL 

He married in April, 1822, Marianne, only daughter anci heiress 
of Robert Bell Livesey, Esq., (second surviving son of the late 
Ralph Bell, Esq., of the Hall, Thirsk), by Jane his wife, daughter 
of the Rev. Dr. Clever of Mai on ; he had issue, 

Edmund Henry, of whom hereafter. 

Marianne Teresa Livesey, married in 1848, to Multon, eldest 
son of William Lambarde, Esq., Beech Mount, county of Kent, 
and has issue, John Bell, Multon, Louisa, and Helen Grace. 

Robert Consitt, born 1827, died 1831, buried at Kildale. 

Edmund Turton, Esq., was a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant 
for the North Riding of Yorkshire, also a magistrate for the county 
of Kent. On his decease, March 13th, 1857, his estates with the 
exception of Brasted Park, passed to his only surviving son, 

Edmund Henry, an officer in the third Dragoon Guards, who 
was born in 1825, and married July, 1856, the Lady Cecilia 
Mary, eldest daughter of Joseph, fifth earl of Milltown, K.P. of 
Russborough in the county of Wicklow, and has issue, 

Edmund Russborough, born November 1st, 1857. 

He is a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for the North Riding 
of Yorkshire. 

Arms of Turton — first and fourth quarterings, JErm. Ten 
trefoils vert. Second, a rampant lion between three trefoils Arg. 
Third per chevron azure and sable, a chevron engrailed with plain 
cottises between three bells argent, impaled gules. A chief Arg. 
in the lower part of a cloud, the rays of the sun issuing therefrom 

• Poulson's Seigniory of Holdernes, Vol. ii., p. 175. 



UPSALL. 275 

Ppr. Crest. — Out of a mural coronet Arg. a cubit arm habited 
vert cuffed of the first, the hand proper, holding a banner per 
fesse Arg. and Vert, the fringe counter changed, trefoil in centre. 
Motto. — Formosa qucs lionesta. 

Having traced the succession of the different owners of Upsall, 
we now turn to its present state. We have no authentic account 
of the destruction of the castle, nor even of the time when it was 
deserted by its owners and left to crumble into ruin. Tradition 
asserts that it was destroyed in the civil wars of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, and that the cannon of Cromwell from the hill to the north 
called the Barff, carried destruction into its venerable walls : but 
there is nothing to confirm this story, and the probability is against 
it. Yet it is not unlikely that the mansion was deserted and began 
to fall to decay about that time ; and ever since the process of ruin 
has been going on ; the walls have formed a quarry from which 
stone has been taken for all kinds of purposes on the estate ; and 
the work of demolition has become at length so complete, that we 
must come almost to the spot before we can identify the place 
where the home of the Upsalls, the Scropes, and the Constables 
once stood. 

It has been of a square form, with an open court in the centre, 
and towers at the angles. The walls have been little more than 
three feet in thickness, yet of excellent masonry and well cemented. 
If we may judge from what remains, both inside and out have 
been of polished stone. The towers at the south-east, and north- 
west corners have apparently been square ; the most perfect frag- 
ment of a tower is at the north-west corner, of an octagonal form, 
which probably contained the best rooms in the whole building, 
while its windows commanded the most extensive and beautiful 
prospects. The highest remaining part of the wall is on the north 
side, from ten to fifteen feet in height ; exhibiting part of an 
arched gateway, (now walled up), high enough to admit a man on 
horseback. This has been the main entrance from a court yard, 
or outer baily, the foundations of which may yet be traced ex- 
tending to the road, close to the village of Upsall. A farm house 
occupies the site of the north-eastern angle tower, and has been 



276 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

built from the ruins of the castle. The eastern side is now hidden 
by a range of farm buildings. Part of the barn is old and the 
rest has been formed out of the castle walls. The south-eastern 
tower has projected considerably from the side walls, and has 
been very massive. The southern side is about sixty-four yards 
in length, and the western about fifty-eight yards. The walls on 
these two sides have been demolished to within four or five feet of 
the soil.* 

The whole of the interior is now occupied by farm buildings 
and a stackyard. Yet from its height above the surrounding 
fields, it is evident that a careful excavation would reveal the 
kitchen, vaults, store rooms, and perhaps the dungeons of the 
castle. The traditions of the place relate that such have some- 
times been laid open by accident ; as once, the occupier of the 
farm having the misfortune to lose a favourite cow, determined to 
bury the defunct animal in the stackyard, and had a grave dug 
for that purpose ; after much labour among the hard rubbish, a 
hole of sufficient capacity was made, and the animal rolled into 
it, when the sudden shock of its weight broke through the bottom 
of the grave, and it disappeared " in a lower deep still." A large 
stack of chimneys stood within living memory near the corner 
of the thrashing machine shed. 

Many fragments of arms and armour have at dhTerent times 
been found in and about the castle, as swords, spear heads, knife 
blades, fragments of iron of various kinds ; a curious gold ring 
which was sold by the finder to a jeweller at York for old gold, a 
brass mortar, in what is called the Woodfield in the Park, which 
will hold about three pints and weighs twelve or fourteen pounds ; 
the metal is nearly an inch thick; it was carried to Eildale Hall, 
where it yet remains ; a leaden ornament or seal, about an inch 

* The work of demolition at Upsall Castle has been chiefly carried on in modern 
times, as appears by the following extract from Camden's Britania, Vol. iii., p. 84. 
" At the foot of Kirkby Knole are the remains of Upsall Castle, once the seat of the 
lords Scrope of Upsall : the outer walls and round towers, and part of a large square 
tower yet remains." 

In an excellent painting of the castle, made by the Rev. W. Peters about the be- 
ginning of this century, lately preserved at Brasted Park, Kent, there appears to 
have been a great deal more of the walls standing than at present. 



ltsall. 277 

in diameter, bearing a robed figure in alto relief on the lower part, 
and three radii proceeding from its head towards three naked 
figures above ; a small silver coin, on the obverse a lady's head 
with the word "Plantella," and another word partly obliterated re- 
sembling "Augusta"; on the reverse two draped figures standing, 
grasping each others hand, below them is written concordia 
etern^e " ; a silver penny, of one of the Edwards, sundry 
brass counters, and many other small coins and ancient relics. In 
1849, the late John Curry and his son, when digging for lime- 
stone, in a field within the park near the " pale dike," found a 
skeleton, only a few inches below the surface, more than six feet 
in length, with the teeth perfectly sound, evidently the remains 
of a young and powerful man. 

Far more important discoveries than these have been made 
within the circuit of the ruined walls of Upsall if tradition tells 
truth, for here was found the genuine 

« ©rocfes of Goto." 

Many years ago there resided in the village of Upsall, a man 
who dreamed three nights successively, that if he went to London 
Bridge he would hear of something greatly to his advantage. He 
went, travelling the whole distance from Upsall to London on foot, 
arrived there he took his station on the bridge, where he waited 
until his patience was nearly exhausted, and the idea that he had 
acted a very foolish part began to rise in his mind. At length he 
was accosted by a Quaker, who kindly enquired what he was 
waiting there so long for. After some hesitation, he told his 
dreams. The Quaker laughed at his simplicity, and told him 
that he had had that night a very curious dream himself, which 
was, that if he went and dug under a certain bush in Upsall 
Castle in Yorkshire, he would find a pot of gold ; but he did not 
know where Upsall was, -and enquired of the countryman if he 
knew, who seeing some advantage in secrecy pleaded ignorance of 
the locality ; and then thinking his business in London was 
completed, returned immediately home, dug beneath the bush, 
and there he found a pot filled with gold, and on the cover an 



278 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

inscription in a language he did not understand. The pot and cover 
were however preserved at the village inn ; where one day a 
bearded stranger like a Jew, made his appearance, saw the pot, 
and read the inscription, the plain English of which was 

" Look lower, where this stood 
Is another twice as good." 

The man of Upsall hearing this, resumed his spade, returned to 
the bush, dug deeper, and found another pot filled with gold far 
more valuable than the first : encouraged by this he dug deeper 
still, and found another yet more valuable. 

This story has been related of other places, but Upsall appears 
to have as good a claim to this yielding of hidden treasure as the best 
of them. Here we have the constant tradition of the inhabitants, 
and the identical bush yet remains beneath which the treasure 
was found ; an Elder, near the north-west corner of the ruins.* 

A subterraneous passage is said to exist between the site of this 
castle and the mansion of New Building on the hill above. About 
forty years ago, a quantity of lead piping was dug up by the 
tenant and sold to a plumber in Thirsk, which had evidently con- 
veyed water from a spring on the hill side into the interior of the 
castle. 

The fish ponds can yet be traced in a field on the south-east of 
the farm yard by their lower level, and the richer green of the 
grass growing there ; they have been four in number. The hollow 
of the moat, apparently about ten feet wide, is yet to be seen on 
the south of the castle. 

The Park is surrounded by an ancient mound called the "pale 
dike." Along one side of this dike is a paved road, about four 
feet wide leading towards Thirsk. A proof of the antiquity of the 
park is that it was possessed of the " bow rake," " which conferred 



* A writer in the Illustrated London News, thus speaks of these stories and their 
origin. 

•' The legend of the discovery of ' three crocks of gold ' in Upsall Castle through 
a dream is not singular to the Vale of Mowbray; the same legend occurs at two 
places in Ireland ; one in Scotland, as well as at SwafFham in Norfolk. Evidently 
they all originate from India, the fountain head, not only of mythologies and philoso- 
phies, but of the traditions and folk-lore of the human race." 



UPSALL. 279 

on the owner of the park, by an old feudal law, a right of range, 
to the extent of a bowshot beyond the limits of his manor." 

The Park lands are held by the present owner under a rent 
charge of 4:01. per annum, payable to Charles Tancred, Esq., of 
Arden Hall and his heirs, which is popularly said to be contingent 
on the existence of a part of Arden Nunnery. This is the 40/. 
per ami. reserved to the crown in the grant of the manor and 
castle of Upsall, from Queen Elizabeth to John Farnham, in 1577 ; 
which royalty was purchased from the crown by one of the Tancred 
family, in 1623. The payments are due on the 29th of September, 
and the 25th of March in every year. 

The Park was disparkecl in 1599, and in a book given by W. 
Constable, Esq., to W. Chapman, it is said to have been surveyed 
in 1578, and found to contain 660 acres of fine meadow and pasture. 

By a survey made of the whole estate, in 1773, the area of the 
whole estate was found to be 1233a. 3r. Tip., and that of the park 
597a. 3r. 14;j., besides the old castle and orchard, and an out 
boundary round the park, in some places about eight or nine 
yards wide in others less, called Pale Dike, adjoining Filliskirk, 
Kirkby Knowle, and Thornbrough. 

" From the time whereof the memory of man is not to the con- 
trary, there hath been paid, and payable, and ought to be paid, to 
the Rector of the parish of South Kilvington, in the county of 
York, for the time being, his farmer, tenant, or tithegatherer there, 
by the owner of the lands or grounds, heretofore called, or known 
by the name of Upsall Park, for the time being yearly, one Buck 
in the Summer season, and one Doe in the Winter season, on de- 
mand. And also grass or pasture for one gelding or mare of 
such Rector or of his farmer, on the same lands or some part 
thereof for all the year, in lieu and satisfaction of all tithes what- 
soever yearly, coming, growing, arising, or renewing from of the 
said ground." During Chapman's ownership of Upsall, a law suit 
took place between him and the Rev. Mr. Piper, rector of Kil- 
vington, when it was decided that the park lands were freed 
from tithes by the above payments. 

After the buck and doe had ceased to graze the herbage of the 



280 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

park, and the land was divided into farms and cultivated, a money 
payment of 3/. 6s. Sd. was received by the rectors of Kilvington, 
in lieu thereof. August 29th, 1723, a new agreement was made 
about the buck, doe, and horse gait, between Guthbert Constable, 
Esq., lord of the manor of Upsall, and the Rev. Walter Chambre, 
then rector of South Kilvington, by which 4Z. a year was to be 
paid, at four quarterly payments. The Rev. Francis Henson, Senr., 
when rector received again the buck and doe, and his old black 
mare was pastured on the park lands. In 1779, it was mutually 
agreed between the owner of Upsall, and the rector of South 
Kilvington, that a modus of 51. 16s. lOd. should be substituted in 
place of all claims. At the tithe commutation, July, 1849, the 
old custom and modus were alike extinguished, and a money pay- 
ment substituted for all tithes and moduses. 

One of the farm houses in the park bears the name of " Nevi- 
son's Hall," and tradition reports that the famous Yorkshire 
freebooter, William Nevison, was born here. This is, however, 
uncertain, as both Pontefract and Wortley claim the honour of 
his birth. He was notorious during the reign of Charles II., and 
named by the "merry monarch" Swift Nick, on account of his 
unparalleled feats of horsemanship. On one occasion having 
committed a robbery near London about sunrise, and finding him- 
self known, fled to York, which he reached the same day before 
sunset, having ridden the whole distance on one mare. This 
wonderful expedition saved his life, for, though he was appre- 
hended, and the witnesses swore positively to him ; yet proving 
himself on the Bowling Green before sunset, neither judge nor 
jury would believe them, and he was acquitted. 

He is generally spoken of by the people as one of the Robin 
Hood class, " who robbed the rich to feed the poor."* Yorkshire 

* Thus it was related of William Nevison the great robber of the North of York- 
shire, that he levied a quarterly tribute on all the northern drovers, and in return 
not only spared them himself, but protected them against all other thieves ; that he 
demanded purses in the most courteous manner; that he gave largely to the poor 
■what he had taken from the rich ; that his life was once spared by the royal clem- 
ency, but that he again tempted his fate, and at length died in 1685 on the gallows 
at York."— Macaulay's Hist, of England , Vol. /., p. 380. 



UPSALL. 281 

appears to have been the chief scene of his exploits ; and many 
places in the county yet bear his name. 

He was at length apprehended in a public house at " Sandal 
three Houses," near Wakefield, by Captain Hardcastle, and 
hanged at York, May 4th, 1685. He appears to have been a 
man of extraordinary strength and courage, and his name is yet 
preserved in "tale and song" by the villagers of Yorkshire, 
though nearly 200 years have elapsed since he expiated his crimes 
on the gallows. The irons by which he was confined, of great 
weight and strength, are yet preserved in the Museum of horrid 
weapons in York Castle. 

The House, which bears his name, is one of the better class of 
farm houses, and was probably built during the time of Charles 
II. , and then would be one of the best houses of its class in the 
neighbourhood. It was occupied (and probably built) by a person 
of the name of Nevison : at one end are the initials I. N., in iron, 
at the other two pieces of curved iron, like two gigantic horse 
shoes, which legends say were those of the horse of the noted 
robber, and that in a snow he reversed them to delude his pur- 
suers. In the cellar, a small, dark, damp room, he is said to have 
secreted himself from pursuit and danger. Behind the front door 
until very recently, hung a large bridle bit, said to have belonged 
to the robber. A parlour in the house is wainscotted with deal, 
similar to a room in the farm house at Upsall, which has pro- 
bably in both cases been taken from the castle. 

The family of Nevison appears to have become extinct here in 
the early part of the last century. The following entries in the 
Parish Register of South Kilvington are the only ones in which 
any of them are mentioned. 

11 1711. Elizabeth y e Daughter of Mr. Will. Nevesson, Bapt. Nov. 7." 
" 1720. Mr. Wm. Nevinson, bur. March 26." 

The prefix Mr. indicates that Nevison was a gentleman ; as in 
the register, with slight exceptions, it is only given to clergymen. 

The village or hamlet of Upsall is immediately behind the site 
of the castle, and consists of a few farm houses, cottages, and the 



282 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

" Greyhound " hostelry. In the middle of the village green, for- 
merly stood a cross, consisting of an upright shaft, about four feet 
high by two feet square, supported by three or four large blocks 
below. The stones are now level with the ground, but stood up- 
right within living memory. Tradition says the "green" is 
paved beneath the soil, and that a market was formerly held upon 
it. The hill rising behind the village, from which the stone for 
the erection of the castle was obtained, yet bears the Scandinavian 
name of " Barf," (a detached low ridge or hill) ; northward from 
which extends the ancient boundary between Upsall and Kirkby 
Knowle, called " Brounmordikes," or the " double dikes," crossing 
; Woolmoor, the ancient " Uinesmote." 

At one corner of the castle farm-house is a large block of granite 
of several tons weight, one of those water worn erratic boulders, 
which are found scattered nearly all over North Yorkshire, and 
which some mighty force, at an unknown period, has torn from 
their parent bed in the Cumbrian Alps. 

An hypothesis has been raised that this block has been an altar 
to some of the Scandinavian deities, who were worshipped at 
this place. The present owner of the estate mentioned the 
subject to many of his learned friends in London and Dublin, who 
quite entered into such a view of the subject. 

The population of Upsall is on the decrease : in 1821 it was 
returned at 118, in 1831 at 114, in 1841 at 116, and in 1851 at 84. 



cowsby. 283 



COWS BY. 



Cowsby* is a small Village situate on the plain close to the foot of 
the Hambleton Hills, a fine bend of the mountain enclosing it on 
three sides, north, east, and south. It is seven miles from Thirsk 
and nine from Northallerton. 

The Church, dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels, was re- 
built in 1846, in the Norman style of architecture ; the tower, 
placed at the junction of the nave and chancel, is surmounted by 
a square blunt spire, covered with slate. There are no monu- 
ments of any kind within ; and only the following inscription 
against the north wall of the chancel. 

" (Seorge aiogt), 1Egq„ })abmg matie a faquegt tofoarfcs fyz 
rcbuiltiing of ©ofos&g ©jjurcl), f)te 2®itiofo anti rlnltiren in com* 
pliance foitj) j)te intentions, ant) out of regarti to I)ig memorg, 
zxziXtb tj)te fabric, %M. 1846, foiti) tjje ait) of ti)e ^arteinonerV' 

The large and elegant font belonged to the old church, is of 
Saxon architecture, and very ancient. 

The architect was the refined and elegant Mr. Salvin; also 
architect for Cowsby Hall. 

On a tomb in the churchyard, somewhat like a Roman stone 
coffin, is inscribed — 

" George Lloyd, Esquire, only son of Thomas Lloyd, Esquire, died 
July 25th, 1844, aged 58 years. 

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord ! " 

• Sometimes written Cowesby, and Colesby — the name is evidently derived from 
" Cow," and the Scandinavian " by," a farm or village— that is the Cow's farm, or in 
modern phrase the dairy farm. 






284 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The living is an ancient Rectory. In 1301, it was in the patro- 
nage of the Folyots. In 1324, Alphonsus de Veer, Kt., presented. 
In 1349, John de Camoys, Kt. In 1364, Hugo Hasting, Kt. In 
1373, William de la Lee, Kt. In 1404, Henry Vavasour. In 
1443, Isabella Burgh. In 1541, M. Constable assignator of Thomas 
Burgh. In 1568, John Palmer first presented, which family last 
presented in 1665. In 1716, Lord Crewe presented ; and in 1733, 
the Alstons of Odell,* Baronets, first presented. Present patron, 
Thomas William Lloyd, Esq., Cowsby Hall. The present rector 
is the Rev. Vere Alston, also rector of Odell in Bedfordshire, and 
the Rev. John Oxlee of Upper Silton, the curate. 

In the Valor, of Pope Nicholas (1291) the benefice was valued 
at 51. per ann., and twenty-six years after at 21. In Bacon's 
Liber Regis it stands thus : — 

" Living discharged. Clear yearly value 31Z. 10s. Od. King's 
Books 51. lis OJJ. Cowsby, alias Cousby. R. in Alvertonshire. 
Of exempt jurisdiction. Val. in mans, cum und bovat terr. gleb. 
ibidem per ann. 10s. decim. garb, &c. Lord Crew 1716. Sir 
Rowland Alston, Bart., 1733, 1757." 

In 1818, the living was returned at 651. per ann. The present 
gross annual value is 1501., made up thus : — Tithe Commutation 
128/. Modus paid by the owner of Kepwick for certain lands in 
that township (on which there is no house) but within the parish 

* The family of Alston of Odell, formerly the proprietors and lords of the manor 
of Cowsby, derive their pedigree from William Alston, who flourished in the reign of 
king Edward I. Sir Thomas Alston, Knt. of Odell, in the county of Bedford, high 
sheriff in 1641, was created a baronet by king Charles I„ 13th June, 1642. He died 
in 1671, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, 

Thomas, who married Temperance, second daughter of Thomas second Lord 
Crewe, by whom he had Thomas and Rowland, his successors, and three daughters. 

Sir Thomas his son, died unmarried in 1714, and was succeeded by his brother, 

Sir Eowland Alston, M.P. for the county of Bedford, in three parliaments. He 
wedded Elizabeth, only daughter of Capt. Thomas Eaynes, and had two sons and 
two daughters — 

Sir Thomas his eldest son, M.P. for the county of Bedford, died without issue, 
July 18th, 1774, and was succeeded by his brother, 

Sir Rowland Alston, who died without issue, June 29th, 1790, aged 64, when the 
title became extinct. 

The present representative of the Alston family is Crewe Alston, Esq., of Odell 
Castle, Bedfordshire. 



COWSBY. 285 

of Cowsby, 21. The Rectory house and glebe land 20/. per ann. 

The Rectory house is situate in the village of Cowsby, and is 
distinguished by a sun-dial over the door. 

The Register Books commence in 1679. 

The township, which is co-extensive in area with the manor of 
Cowsby, contains 1165a. Or. 5p. of land, and the parish, which 
includes the lands in Kepwick, charged with the 21. a-year above 
mentioned, makes the total of the parish (according to the map of 
the Ordnance Survey) 1293a. Or. op. Of the 1165 acres in the 
township of Cowsby, about 820 are cultivated — the remainder is 
Moors, ^Voods, Intakes, and Roads. 

The number of inhabitants in 1851 was 97, and the assessed 
property in the township was 596Z. 

In the village is a Hospital, consisting of a low antique building 
divided into four cottages. The persons liable to the benefits of 
this charity must be four reduced tenants in Cowsby and of the 
Lord of the manor of Cowsby. Each beneficient is entitled to the 
use of a cottage and garden, and an equal fourth share of a rent 
charge of 107. per annum. This Hospital was founded by 
Nathaniel Lord Crewe, the precise date not known, but most 
probably about the middle of the seventeenth century. Lord 
Crewe held the See of Durham from 1674 to 1721. It was only 
after the decease of his elder brothers, and their issue, without 
male heirs, that he became a lord temporal as well as spiritual. 
He died Sep. 18th, 1722, in the 8Sth year of his age. The pa- 
tronage of the Llospital was subsequently held by the family of 
Alston, and now by T. W. Lloyd, Esq., of Cowsby Hall. 

The following en try in Domesday appears to refer to this place: 

" Lands of Hugh the son of Baldric. North Riding. Gerlestre 
Wapontake. Manor. In Cahosbi, Gamel had three carucates of 
land to be taxed. There is land to one plough. Girrard, a vassal 
of Hugh's, has there seven villanes having four ploughs. Coppice 
wood four quarantens long, and the same broad. The whole 
manor one mile long, and four quarentens broad. Value in King 
Edward's time five shillings, and the same now."* 

• Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 198. 



286 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Cowsby Hall is an elegant stone mansion in the Tudor style of 
architecture, erected in the year 1832, by the late George Lloyd, 
Esquire, from a design by Mr. Salvin. It is situated in a pleasant 
but rather lonely place in the northern curve of a circular recess 
of the Hambleton Hills, which shelter it from the north and east 
winds, leaving it open to the sunshine of the south and the breezes 
of the west. The hills on the north and east sides rise around it 
like an amphitheatre ; the bottom is meadow and cultivated 
ground ; the sides are covered with woods and plantations, above 
which rises the wild healthy moor. 

" thick groves mantling round 
A tranquil amphitheatre, fenced off 
From the world's cares by those huge battlements." 

In the entrance Hall is a full-length portrait of Thomas Lloyd, 
Esq., Lieut.-Colonel Commandant of the Loyal Leeds Volunteers, 
presented by the officers of that corps to Mrs. Lloyd in 1802. 

This family is a junior branch of the Lloyds of Acomb and 
Sewerby in this county, and although long settled in the North 
Riding of Yorkshire, are believed to derive their lienage from the 
Lloyds of Llanynys in the county of Denbigh. 

George Lloyd, F.R.S., D.L., only child of Gamaliel Lloyd, a re- 
spected merchant of Manchester, married Eleanor, eldest daughter 
of Henry Wright, Esq., of Offerton in Cheshire, by Purefoy, 
daughter of Sir Willoughby Aston, Bart., and had issue an only 
child- 
John, F.R.S., who married, firstly Anne, daughter and heiress 
of James Hibbins, Esq., M.D., and had two sons who both died 
s.p., and one daughter ; Mr. Lloyd married secondly Susannah, 
daughter of Thomas Horton, Esq., of Chadderton in Lancashire, 
(sometime governor of the Isle of Man), and had issue, 

Gamaliel, Alderman of the town of Leeds, and Mayor in 1799. 
He married Elizabeth, daughter of James Attwood, Esq., and 
died August 31st, 1817, in Great Ormond Street, London, leaving 
issue, 

I. William Horton, F.L.S., born Feb. 10th, 1784, married April, 
1826, Mary, youngest daughter of George Whitelock, Esq., and 
had issue one son, the present Whitelocke Lloyd, Esquire. 



cowsby. 287 

II. George, of iVcomb. — See Burke's Landed Gentry. 

III. Thomas, of Horsforth Hall, Lieut.-Colonel Commandant of 
the Loyal Leeds Volunteers, who died at Kingthorpe House, near 
Pickering, April 7th, 1828, having married Anne daughter of 
Walker Wade, Esq., of New Grange, Co. of York, leaving issue, 
an only son, 

George, of Cowsby, born May 25th, 1786, who married firstly, 
Marian, fifth daughter of Alexander Maclean, Esq., of Coll. in 
Argyllshire, by whom he had no issue. She died in 1821. Mr. 
Lloyd married secondly June 7th, 1815, Elizabeth, daughter of 
William Sergeantson, Esq., of Camp Hill, near Ripon, and had 
issue thirteen children, among whom 

Thomas William, the present owner of Cowsby Hall and Manor. 

George Walter, an officer in the Royal navy, now alive. — (See 
Murray's Navy List). 

John George, an officer of the 2nd West York Militia, who died 
in 1856, and is buried in Cowsby churchyard. 

Caroline Anne, Marianne Jane, &c. &c. 

George Lloyd, Esq. died July 25th, 1844, and was succeeded 
by his eldest son, 

Thomas William Lloyd, Esq., who is a Magistrate, and Deputy 
Lieutenant for the North Riding of Yorkshire. He married in 
1849, Elizabeth Ann daughter of Francis Beynon Hackett, Esq., 
of Moor Hall, Warwickshire ; but has no issue. 

Arms. — Or, three lions dormant in pale, sable. Crest. — A 
demi arm in scale armour, the hand naked, proper, the cuff argent, 
grasping a lizard, vert. 



i 



283 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



THORNTON - LE - STREET. 



Thornton-le-Street is a Village and Parish, three miles north 
of Thirsk, on the high road leading to Northallerton, [and also, 
(if we may judge from its name and position) on the ancient 
Roman road, which crossed the forest of Galtres, from Eboracum 
in this direction to the north. 

From the great number of places bearing the name of Thornton 
in this county, it is somewhat difficult to appropriate them pro- 
perly and say what was the state of this place, or who was its 
owner at the time of the Domesday survey. It is probable that 
the following entry may belong to it, under the head of 

" Land of Robert Mallet, Alvertone Wapontake. Manor. In 
Torentone, Edmund had five carucates of land to be taxed. It is 
now waste."* 

The manor, however, shortly afterwards seems to have reverted 
to the crown, when it was given to the See of Durham : as from 
Kirkby's Inquest (1279) we find that this town contained six 
carucates of land, which the Bishop of Durham held of the King 
in capite, for half a knight's fee, and no rent. In the seventeenth 
century the manor was held by the Talbots of Wood End, more 
recently by the family of Crompton, and is now the property of 
Lord Greenock. 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc. p. 157. 



THORXXOX-LE-STREET. 289 

The village does not present any features of particular interest. 
The country around is pleasant and well cultivated ; the lands 
near the river Codbeck are of excellent quality, mostly in grass, 
and well adapted for the feeding of cattle; other parts of the 
township are richly wooded, particularly about the mansion of 
Wood End. 

The Church (dedicated to St. Leonard) is a small Early English 
fabric, recently restored in the style of architecture in which it was 
originally built, consisting of a nave, chancel, porch, and vestry, 
with a turret containing two bells on the western gable. The 
porch is new, as is also the vestry, a small projecting building on 
the north side of the chancel. The windows on the south side are 
single and double lights alternately, narrow, with trefoil heads. 
A buttress marks the junction of the nave and chancel. The east 
window is of three lights with cinquefoil heads. The arch of the 
north door is semicircular. The bell turret, and the buttresses sup- 
porting it, are new. The west end is lighted by two long narrow 
windows with cinquefoil heads. 

In the interior, directly opposite the entrance against the north 
wall, in a quatrefoil of stone, is the following inscription : — 

In i&emorg of j£tr jeamuel ©rompton, 

of ©J)onuon=k=<Stmt, 33eagi)aU, ant) ©Jjrolfcleg, 

baronet, 

STIjte ancient ©ijurd), 

(neat foirid) jje foag fcurUti), 

foas regtoreti, 

<&M. 1855. 

aSom, 1785, 

1848. 



The arch dividing the nave and chancel is new, and pointed, 
springing from capitals, supported by short shafts rising from the 
wall below. The piscina yet remains in the south wall of the 
chancel. The sittings are new, consisting of open stalls. 



290 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The inscriptions are very interesting, in a good state of preser- 
vation, and commemorate different members of the Talbot family 
formerly of Wood End. On a brass plate on the floor of the 
chancel is inscribed : — 

" Hie in spe resurgendi Christum expectans suscitatura requiescit 
Elizabetha ex antiquo et perillustri Pudseiorum de Bolton in Craven stem- 
mate prosata. Rogeri Talbot de Woodend in Parochia de Thornton-le- 
Street, Armigeri, Conjux cui duodecim Liberos in lucem attulit ilia 
postquam illos in Coelebatu 26, in Congugio 28, et in Vidutate 14, 
compleverat Vitam, hanc senio curis et Anthritide Lassata. Deo sic 
Volenti, non invita resignavit, vicesimo sexto die Decembris, Anno 
Domini mdclxxxxiv. ^Etatis sua? sexagesimo octavo.* 

Anna illius filia pietatis motu hoc charse Matris memorise dicavit." 

On a tablet against the south wall of the chancel is inscribed : — 

" Pietatis & eximise virtutis Faeminece D'nse Brigittse filise Willi. 
Pennington Ar: ex Antiqua Familia Pennington orum de Mulcastre 
prosatse : Ambrosio Pudsey de Bolton in Craven Ar : primo nuptse, cui 
unicum nlium ejusdem nominis attulit, & duas filias (stit) Anam & 
Elizabetham : Quarum prima Thomse, natu maximo, filio Thomse Laton 
Militis, de-in Waltero Rob'ti Strickland militis. Secundo genito Matri- 
monij copula adjuncta fuit. Alteram vero Rogerus ulius & hseres Joh'is 
Talbot de Thornton Ar : cepit in uxorem. Postremo de'a D'na Brigetta 
Thomam Laton Militem in maritum secundam nupsit : cui peperit Ca- 
rolum & Brigittam Laton Qui Carolus pietatis motu, in charge Matris 
defunctse memoriam hoc curari fecit. Obijt ipsa viij Calend Maij Anno 
setatis suae Lxiij. Anno q. D'ni M.D.c.Lxiij."f- 

A tablet against the east wall of the chancel commemorates 
Roger Talbot, Esq., a captain in the army of king Charles I. 

" Memoria Dicatum. 
Juxta hie recondunter ossa Rogeri Talbot Armigeri, primogenite fiiij 
Johannis Talbot (ex parte Regis Caroli I.) Chiliarchae defuncti, Qui cum 
patre (adhunc juvenis multis in prselijs obsidionibusqz. Regi fideliter 
adhoesissett & in campo ad extremum usqz.) veriliter pugnavissit (Exactis 
jam jinimicis evectoqz. ad solum patris Caroli 2). Hie in numero Justi- 

* Her burial is thus recorded in the parish register, " 1694. Elizabeth Talbot, 
mother of Roger Talbot, Esqr., died ye 26 of December, and was buried on Friday 
ye 28, 1694." 

t This lady's burial is thus entered in the same register, " 1664. The religious and 
virtuous Lady Laton was buried upon St. Mark's day, being the 25th day of April.' , 



THORNTON-LE-STREET. 291 

ciariorum fpro pace domi) adscitus Chiliarchioeqz. (pro bello). Maioris 
officio insignitus et (pro Rege & patria) ad Comitia Regni (per plurimos 
annos) evocatus tandem (cum ex Uxore Elizabetha Ambrosij Pudseij 
Armigeri (defuncti) sorore, numerosam prolem suscipisset. (Viz. Roge- 
rum (primogenito Johanne priiis defuncti) filium & heredem, Ambrosiam 
et Thomam, Carolum, Brigidum, (in puerperio sine sobole defunctam) 
Johanni Wright, Gent., Enuptam Janum, Richardo Lockwood, gent., 
in Uxorem datam. Elizabetha, Anna, Catherina, Florentia, Maria, 
senio & curis confectus ab hoc luce migravit 2 d ° 8 bris Anno iEtatis suae 
61. Annoqz. Dni. (1). dclxxx." 

Against the north wall of the chancel is a tablet to the memory 
of Roger Talbot, Esq. and his wife, the last of the family who re- 
sided at Wood End. 

" Near this place lie the remains of Roger Talbot, of Wood End, Esq. 
and of Sarah his wife, only daughter of William Ward of the City of 
York, L.L.D., and relict of Sir Robert Fagg, Bart., of Weston in Sussex. 
He died viii. March, mdcclxxvii., aged lxiv. She died xxvii. Nov., 
mdccxcii., aged lxxxii. 

Their exemplary charity and other excellent qualities will make them 
long regretted by all who knew them." 

The only Testamentary burial recorded in Torre, as having 
taken place in this church, is that of Richard Meynal of Dalton, 
Gent., in 1612. . 

This Church was an ancient rectory belonging to the patronage 
of the bishops of Durham, by whom it was given to the Hospital 
of St. James at Northallerton, to which it was appropriated, and 
a Vicarage ordained therein. The first Vicar named in Torre's 
MSS., was instituted in 1295. 

From the Valor Ecclesiasticas, we learn that the Hospital of St. 
James received for rents of divers lands and tenements in 
" Thornton-in-Strato," the sum of 73s. 4d. The rectory with the 
tithes of corn and hay was valued at II. 3s. 4:d. per ann., and that 
5s. 4cd. per ann. were paid out of the said income to the Collegiate 
Church of Ripon. 

On the dissolution of the religious houses, the patronage came 
to the crown, and was granted to the Dean and Canons of Christ 
Church, Oxford. 



292 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

In the valuation of Pope Nicholas (1292), the living is returned 
as worth 13/. 6s. Sd. per ann. In the Nova Tax (1340), it is only 
valued at half the above sum, 6/. 13s. 4d. In the Liber Regis, it is 
said to be of exempt jurisdiction. " Valet in decim. Vitul. Agn. 
Lan., &c, 4/." It was augmented in 1796, with 200/. ; and in 
1810, with 200/. more from the parliamentary grant, to meet bene- 
factions of 100/. from the Rev. Thomas Hartland Fowle, the Vicar, 
and 100/. from Mrs. Pyncombe's trustees. In 1818, it was esti- 
mated at 78/. per annum. Net value in 1834, 60/. per annum. 

The Register Books commence in 1598, but the first two books 
are very imperfect. 

In 1736, Mrs. Ann Talbot left the interest of 20/. to be distributed 
to the poor at Christmas. 

The township contains 1340 acres j and in 1851, 171 inhabitants. 



WOOD END. 293 



WOOD END. 



Wood End is a modern built Mansion, situated, as its name de- 
notes, at the end of a succession of luxuriant woods, about 4 miles 
uorth of Thirsk, in the township of Thorn ton-le-Street, now the 
seat of Alan Frederick, Viscount Greenock, eldest son of the Earl 
of Cathcart, who inherits it in right of his wife Elizabeth Mary, 
eldest daughter of the late Sir Samuel Crompton, Bart. 

For a long time this manor and estate were held by the family 
of Talbot. Early in the seventeenth century Roger Talbot, son 
of John Talbot, resided here, who married Elizabeth sister of 
Ambrose Pudsey, of the ancient family of that name, long settled 
at Bolton in Craven, by whom he had a numerous family, con- 
sisting of five sons and four daughters, of whom John the eldest, 
died young ; and Roger, the second son, succeeded to the estate. 
Roger Talbot the elder was a captain in the army of king Charles 
I., in whose service he passed through many dangers. In 1661 
he represented the borough of Northallerton in parliament, and 
was for many years a Justice of the Peace. He died October 2nd, 
1680, aged 61. His widow died December 6th, 1694, in the 68th 
year of her age ; she was married at the age of 26, was twenty- 
eight years a wife and fourteen a widow, as is related on her monu- 
ment in the church of Thornton-le-Street. 

Of Roger Talbot, Esq., who succeeded his father in 1680, we 
have but little information ; he had a son Roger, baptised Feb. 
13th, 1685, who succeeded to the estate on his father's decease. 
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart., 



294 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

of Thirkleby, near Thirsk, by whom he had one son named after 
his father, and one daughter named Arabella, afterwards the wife 
of Colonel Gee, who was killed at the head of his regiment at the 
battle of Fontenoy, April 30th, 1745. 

Roger Talbot, Esq., was born Aug. 15th, 1713: he succeeded to 
the estate of Wood End on his father's decease. He was returned 
as representative to parliament for the borough of Thirsk, in 1754. 
He married Sarah, only daughter of William Ward, of the city of 
York, L.L.D., and widow of Sir Robert Fagg, Bart., of Weston in 
Sussex, but had no issue. He died March 8th, 1777 ; his widow 
survived him fifteen years, and died Nov. 27th, 1792, aged 82.* 
She held the name of her first husband, and was styled Lady 
Fagg till the day of her death, f 

* The age as given above is that engraved on the monumental tablet in the church 
of Thornton-le-Street. The registers of the same church give it different as follows — 
" Burials. — Sarah Fagg, relict of Rogei Talbot, aged 84, Dec. 10, 1791." 

t The following extracts from the Registers of Thornton-le-Street, relate to the 
family of Talbot :— 

" Myrywell son of Mr. Thomas Talbot, buried ye 4th of Novem., 1623." 

" 1652, Mr. Charles Talbot, buried June 28th." 

" 1653, John ye sonne of Mr. Roger Talbot, was baptised at Saxhow in Cleveland, 
ye 14th day of July, 1653, by Rowland Harwood, Minister of Thornton-le-Street." 

" 1654, Bridget the daughter of Mr. Roger Talbot, was born ye 23rd of August, 
bap. 28th Aug., 1654." 

'* John Talbott, Esq., was buried the Eighth day of May, 1659." 

M Jane Talbot, daur. of John Talbot, Esq., was buried the eighth day of May, 1659." 

" John, ye sonne of Roger Talbot, Esq., was buried ye 27th day of July, 1659." 

" Thomas Talbot, the sone of Roger Talbott, Esq., was born the 24th of November, 
and baptized the 301th of November, being St. Andrew's day, in the year 1665." 

" 1667, Mary Talbot, the daughter of Roger Talbot, was born on the 222nd day of 
July, in the year of our Lord 1667." 

" Charles Talbot, the sonne of Roger Talbot, was born the 30th day of December, 
and baptized the 301th day of December, in the year of our Lord God 1668." 

" Charles Talbot, the sone of Roger Talbot, Esquire, was buried the twenty-eighth 
day of March, in the year of our Lord God 1669." 

" The religious and virtuous lady Midletone, was buried on the 6th day of January, 
being the 12th day of the Epiphany of our Lord God 1669." 

" John Talbot, the sonne^of Roger Talbot, Esqyre, was baptized the 201st day of 
May, in the year of our Lord 1683 " 

" Roger Talbot, the sonne of Roger Talbot, Esq., was bapt. the 13th day of Feby., 
1685" 

■* Henry Talbot, the sonne of Roger Talbot, was baptized the 9th day of June, in 
the year of God 1687." 

" Catherine Talbot, the daughter of Roger Talbot, was bapt. the 12th decern., 
in 1688." 

" Roger Talbot, the son of young Roger Talbot, was born 15th Aug., 1713." 



WOOD END. 295 

After the death of Roger Talbot, the mansion and estate came 
to the posterity of his sister Arabella, wife of Col. Gee, whose only 
son named Roger became possessed thereof. He married Caroline 
Wharton, by whom he had two daughters, Sarah and Caroline, 
one of whom married Colonel Hotham of the Guards, a younger 
brother of the late Lord Hotham's. From these co-heiresses the 
estate was purchased by Samuel Crompton, Esq., father of the 
late Sir Samuel Crompton, Bart. 

The family of Crompton was located in Derbyshire from about 
the middle of the seventeenth century. Samuel Crompton, Esq., 
(first owner of Wood End of that name), was born in April, 1750. 
He was Mayor of Derby in the years 1782 and 1788. He married 
in 1783, Sarah, daughter of Samuel Fox, Esquire, of Derby, and 
had issue Samuel, and Sarah. 

Samuel Crompton, Esq., who succeeded to the estate of Wood 
End on the decease of his father, was born in July, 1785, and 
married in Nov., 1829, to Isabella Sophia, sixth daughter of the 
late Hon. and Rev. Archibald Hamilton Cathcart, rector of Meth- 
ley, and vicar of Kippax, in the West Riding of this county. 
They had issue four daughters, Elizabeth Mary, Isabella Sarah, 
Fanny Selina, and Alice. 

In 1838, he was advanced to a Baronetcy; which on his dying 
without male issue, Dec. 27th, 1849, became extinct. He devised 
the mansion and estate of Wood End, to his eldest daughter — 

Elizabeth Mary, who in 1850, married Alan Frederick, Viscount 
Greenock, eldest son of the Earl of Cathcart, who became in con- 
sequence owner of Wood End. 

The family of Cathcart is of considerable antiquity in Scotland, 
deriving their surname from their lands in the county of Renfrew, 
where the town of that name is situated. 

The Cathcarts have been warriors in all ages; one fell at 



" 1715, Elizabeth Talbut, the daughter of Roger Talbut, Esq., born 9th July, 1715." 
" Mr. John Talbut was buried ye 15th July," (year obliterated, but between 
1710 and 1712). 

" Burials. 1778, Roger Talbot, Esq., Mar. 14." 

M Sarah Fagg, Relict of Roger Talbot, aged 84, Dec. 10th, 1791." 



296 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Pinkie, another at Flodden Field — nor has the military reputa- 
tion of the race yet declined. 

The grandfather of Viscount Greenock was William Shaw 
Cathcart, tenth Baron and first Earl, K.T., K.A.N., K.A., K.S.A., 
and K.T.S. ; born in 1755, and, having adopted the profession of 
arms, attained the rank of Lieiit.-General in 1801. In 1807 he 
was appointed Commander in Chief of the Expeditionary Force 
sent to Copenhagen, and was rewarded on his return by receiving 
a British Peerage. On the 16th of July, 1814, he was advanced 
to the dignity of an Earl. He married in June, 1779, Elizabeth 
daughter of Andrew Elliott, Esq., Governor of New York, by 
whom he had a numerous family. 

He died in June, 1843, and was succeeded by his second sur- 
viving son, 

Charles Murray, second Earl Cathcart, born at Walton in 
Essex, December 21st, 1783, K*C.B. ; entered the army in 1799, 
and served in the expedition to the Helder in the same year. 
Accompanied the expedition under Sir James Craig, and served 
in Naples and Sicily in 1805-6 as Assistant Quarter Master 
General. Served on the expedition to the Scheldt, and was 
present at the siege of Flushing in 1809. Proceeded to the 
Peninsula in 1812, and was present at the battles of Barrosa, 
Salamanca, and Vittoria, for which he has received the gold 
medal and two clasps. He also served in the campaign of 1815, 
and was present at the battle of Waterloo, for which he received 
the Fourth Class Order of St. Wladimer and St. Wilhelm. Ap- 
pointed Colonel of the first Dragoon Guards in 1851 ; he was 
Governor and Commander in Chief of Canada, Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, &c, in 1846, and attained the rank of General in 
1854. He is L.L.D. and Vice President of the Royal Society 
of Scotland. He married, in 1818, Henrietta daughter of Thomas 
Mather, Esquire, and has issue, 

I. Alan Frederick, Viscount Greenock. 

II. Augustus Murray, born in 1830, a Lieut.-Colonel in the 
Army, who served through the Eastern Campaigns in the Crimea 
in 1854-6. 



WOOD END. 297 

Lady Elizabeth, married to Colonel Douglas, eldest son of Sir 
Neil Douglas. 

Lady Henrietta Louisa Frances, born in 1823. 

Lady Adelaide, married to J. R. Trafford, Esquire, in 1850. 

Alan Frederick, Viscount Greenock, was born at Hythe in 
Kent, 1828. He entered the army, and was appointed first Lieut, 
of the 23rd foot in 1849 ; he retired in 1850, in which year he 
married Elizabeth Mary, eldest daughter of the late Sir Samuel 
Crompton, Bart., and has issue, 

Isabel, born in 1851, died December 26th, 1856, buried in the 
churchyard of Thorn ton-le- Street. 

Alan, born April, 1856. 

His lordship is a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate for the 
North Riding of the County of York, Chairman of the North 
Riding Quarter Sessions, aud a Lieutenant- Colonel in the North 
York Militia. 

In the mansion at Wood End, amongst many other Paintings, 
are four pictures by George Cuitt, a Yorkshire artist, born at the 
village of Moulton in 1743, died at Richmond Feb. 3, 1818. 
They are representations of Italian scenery, or perhaps rather 
compositions. A picture of Wood End by the same artist, is fitted 
into a frame which forms a portion of an old-fashioned carved fire- 
place. The style of this painter is thought by competent judges 
to be somewhat hard. These are said to be the best specimens of 
his skill. 

In the dining room is a very valuable portrait of the unfortu- 
nate Mary Queen of Scots, by a Dutch artist ; also one of 
Napoleon I. ; besides many others of the Cathcart family ; and 
two modern full-lengths of Lord and Lady Greenock, by Dessein. 



298 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



NORTH KILVINGTON. 



North Kilvington is a township in the parish of Thornton-le- 
Street, situated about three miles north of Thirsk. The river Cod- 
beck forms the western boundary, and the brook called Spittle- 
beck runs on the southern side, dividing it from the parish of 
South Kilvington. 

This township is entirely rural and agricultural, containing 777 
acres, and only 63 inhabitants. 

Among the lands of the Earl of Morton in Yorkshire, mentioned 
in Domesday Survey, we find " In Chelvinetune, Waltef had one 
manor of two carucates. It is waste."* 

The family of Meynell of North Kilvington, and the Fryerage, 
Yarm, have for a long time had possession of this township. Their 
ancient mansion stood near the junction of Spittlebeck with Cod- 
beck, but was pulled down many years ago, and the materials used 
in the erection of farm buildings on the estate. The site is yet 
distinctly marked amidst a grove of ancient elms, and the antique 
brick wall which formerly enclosed the gardens. The barn be- 
longing to the farm house, near the site of the old hall, is said to 
have been the coach house. Its appearance is indicative of consi- 
derable age, and though it has been frequently repaired and 
modernised, the original style and appearance are preserved. On 
an oaken beam over the principal door is cut T. 1612. M. being 
the initials of Thomas Meynell, Esq., and probably the date of its 
erection. 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 76. 



NORTH KILYINGTON. 299 

In the field adjoining Spittlebeck, is a hollow place like the 
remains of an ancient moat of considerale extent. 

Few families in Yorkshire can lay claim to a higher antiquity 
than that of Meinell, or Meynell. They were originally settled at 
Stainton, Whorlton, and Hilton in Cleveland. A great many of 
the Hilton family were buried in the church of the Black Friars at 
Yarm ; of which lord John Men ell of Middleton was one of the 
principal foun ders. 

Amongst the earliest of the name we find Walter Main el de 
Ingletona, county of Durham, who had a grant of lands in Snoterdon 
from his brother, Roger de Hilton. " His son Robert had a grant 
from Robert son of Mildred, of all the entire village of Snoterdon. 
This Robert had three sons : — I. Stephen, who granted lands to 
Byland Abbey in 1230. II. William, who granted the manor of 
Hilton to his brother Hugo de Menil in 1203, and which he con- 
firmed 57 years afterwards in 1260. Both these deeds are yet in 
possession of Thomas Meynell, Esq., and bear the seal and arms 
of William Menil attached thereto. It further appears by a deed 
in possession of the same gentleman that this Hugh de Menil, the 
third son, married Alice and not Agnes, as the name has been pre- 
viously given in pedigrees of this family. 

They had issue — 

John de Meinel de Hilton, who married Sibilla de Skeringham: 
he was living in 1306. He was succeeded by — 

Nicholas de Menil, who married Cecilia, daughter and heiress 
of Thomas Salcock of South Salcock, in the county of York. Both 
buried in the church of the Black Friars at Yarm. 

Robert de Meinell his son, married first Margaret daughter of — 
and secondly Alice (or Agnes), daughter and co-heiress of Robert 
Thurnam of Thurnam-upon-the- Wolds. He was living in 1401, 
and his wife was living a widow in 1441. She received for her 
dower one third part of the manor of Hilton. Robert is styled 
" Dominus de Hilton et S. Salcock." 

It appears by a deed of 1447, that the manor of Hilton was held 
of the manor of Whorlton by homage and fealty. The said 
manor of Whorlton being then held by Sir James Strange ways, 



300 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Knt., and Sir John Conyers, Knt., who married the co-heiresses 
of the last lord Meinell of Whorlton. 

The eldest son of Robert by Margaret his first wife, was 

Thomas, who married Jane daughter of Richard Denam of 
Denam in the county of Durham. He died in September, 1447, 
leaving his son John a minor under the guardianship of Matthew 
Fenton. 

John attained his full age March 24th, 1452, and married the 
daughter of Richard Hansard of Walworth, county of Durham, 
and settled all his estates in the counties of York and Durham on 
his eldest son — 

Robert, who married Agnes, daughter of Sir John Lancaster, 
Knt., of Sockbridge, in the county of Westmorland, and had 
issue — 

I. Robert, who married Mary Pudsey of Barforth, in the county 
of York ; he was appointed a Sergeant-at-Law in 1547, and at his 
death was possessed of various manors, amongst the rest that of 
Hilton. 

II. Henry — III. Anthony. 

Robert left to his two younger sons as joint tenants, the lease 
of his farmhold in Kilvington, which he held of the Abbey of 
Eggleston ; and in his will desires to be buried in the church of 
Thornton-le-Street. 

These two younger sons were the joint purchasers, in 1544, of 
the Manor of North Kilvington, from William and John 
Sewsters, Esqrs.,* of Gumcester in the county of Huntingdon. 
Anthony purchased in 1550, the Manor of Pickhall, of Sir John 
Neville, of Holt. 

Henry died unmarried, leaving his share of Kilvington to his 
brother Anthony, who married Elizabeth daughter of William 
Green, Esq., of Landmoth, near Thirsk ; and secondly, Kate 

daughter of Rokeby, of Mortham. By his first wife he had 

Roger his successor, and Richard of Thirsk, who died in 1612 ; 



* A pedigree of the family of Sewster is given in Noble's Memoirs of the Protec- 
toral House of Cromwell, Vol. 2, p. 229. 



NORTH KILVINGTON. 301 

by his second wife lie had one son, Robert, ancestor of the 
Meynells of Thornaby, now extinct. 

Anthony died in 1576, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

Roger, of North Kilvington, who married Margaret daughter 
and co-heiress of Anthony Catterick, Esq., of Stan wick. This 
Roger was accused of high treason in 1569, for having joined in 
the insurrection of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmor- 
land at Topcliffe ; but in December, 1570, obtained a general 
pardon by letters patent from the Queen. His estates, which 
had been confiscated, were not restored till some time afterwards.* 
He died in 1591, leaving besides other issue, an eldest son, 

Thomas, of North Kilvington, Esq., born in 1564. He married 
first, Winefrid daughter of Thomas Pudsey, Esq., of Barforth ; 
and secondly, Mary daughter of Robert Gale, Esq., of Acomb, 
near York. He suffered much as a recusant; died in July, 1653, 
and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

Anthony, of North Kilvington, Esq. Aged 74 in 1665. He 
married Mary,f daughter of James Thwaites, Esq., of Long 

» Sir George Bowes writing to the Earl of Sussex, Nov. 17th, 1569, says — "This 
day, young Nicholas Fairfax, with a great companye, hath entred the house of 
Anthony Katterick, and taken therein his two sons in law, Lambert and Mennell; 
which Mennell was but gone thither, rneaninge of the morowe to come hither ; and 
is servant to the Earl of Leicester." Lord Scrope writes to Secretary Cecil, Nov. 6th, 
1570, to solicit his pardon, stating that he was forcibly taken away from Stanwick, 
" and from thence conveyed to the Eebelles, and with whom he remayned a whyle 
against his will; and, fearing the extremity of the laws against them, fled into 
Scotland." He adds that both Sir George Bowes, and Robert Bowes his brother, 
have made reports of the truth of this statement, and, at the desire of Sir George 
Bowes and others, he now signifies the same. — State Papers. 

f The following extracts from the Parish Registers of Thornton-le-Street will serve 
to confirm, and, in some measure, complete the pedigree of this family : — 

" 1653, Thomas Meynell, Esq., buried July 14th." 

•* Mary Mennell, the wife of Anthony Menill, esquire, was buried the 203rd day of 
May, in the year of our Lord God 1669." 

"Mary Mennill, the daughter of Roger Meinell, Esquyer, was buried the 208th 
day of May, in the year of our Lord God 1669." 

" 1669, Anthony Meniell, Esquyre, was buried the 202nd day of September, in the 
year of God 1669." 

" Thomas Meniell, the sone of Roger Meniell, Esquyre, was born the 6th day of 
October, in the year of our Lord God 1670." 

" Brigett, daur. of Roger Meinell, born the last day of May, 1672." 

" Roger Mennell, the son of Roger Mennell, Esq., was born the 15th of June, 
1709." 



302 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Marston, by whom lie had six sons and seven daughters ; of whom 
the eldest son was — ■ 

Thomas Meynell, Esq., who married Geraldine, daughter of 
William Ireland, Esq., of Nostell Priory in the county of York, 
by whom he had issue — 

Roger, who succeeded his father, and married Mary daughter 
of Sir John Myddleton, Knt., of Thurntoft, and had besides other 
issue — 

Thomas, born October 6th, 1670, who succeeded to the manor 
and estate of North Kilvington, but dying without issue, was 
succeeded by his brother — 

Roger Meynell, Esq., born November 14th, 1673. He married 
Ann, daughter of Edward Charlton, Esq., of Hesleyside, North- 
umberland, and had issue, 

Roger Meynell, of Kilvington, Esq., born June loth, 1709, 
who married in 1735, Barbara daughter of Thomas William 
Selby, Esq., of Biddlestone, Northumberland. He died in 1742, 
leaving besides other issue, 

Edward Meynell, Esq., of North Kilvington and the Fryerage, 
Yarm, born Aug. 22nd, 1713, and married in 1764, to Dorothy 
daughter of William Cary, Esq., of Torr Abbey, Devon., by 
whom (who died March 29th, 1802, aged 60,) he had issue, 

Edward, who predeceased his father in 1777. Thomas his heir. 
George, born in 1778, Barrister -at -Law, who died in 1815. 
Catharine, married in 1789 to Simon Scrope, Esq., of Danby. 
Anna Maria, born in 1770 ; and Barbara, who died young. 
Edward Meynell, Esq., died in 1808, and was succeeded by his 
second son, 

Note continued. 
Mary, daughter of Roger Mennell, Esq., born 12th Aug. 1710." 
George Mennell, son of Roger Mennell, born 1st April, 1712." 
Edward Mennell, son of Roger, was born 22nd Aug., 1713." 
1717, Ann Mennell, daughter of Roger, born Nov. 18th, 1717." 
1707, Eliza Menill, ye Daughter of Roger Menill, was buried the 3rd of May." 
Mennell, Esq., was buried the 12th of 1707." 



Thomas Mennell, Esq , was buried the 27th of March, 1708." 
Burials. 1802, Dorothy Meynell from Yarm, aged 60, Mar. 29." 

1808, Edward Meynell, Esq. from Yarm, aged 66, June 15th.' 

Emma Catherine Meynell, June 22nd, 1844, aged 17." 



NORTH KILVINGTON. 303 

Thomas Meynell, Esq., of North Kilvington and the Eryerage, 
Yarm. He married August 23rd, 1804, Teresa Mary eldest 
daughter of John Wright, Esq., of Kelvedon in Essex, and had 
issue, 

Thomas, his heir. Edward, born in 1811, Barrister-at-Law, 
married May, 1840, Katharine daughter of Joseph Michael, of 
Stamford, Esq. ; and died in 1856, leaving a son Edward, horn 
1841. Hugo, born in 1813, died in 1828. Edgar, born in 1825. 
Mary Teresa ; and Catharine, who died young. Thomas Meynell, 
Esq., died in 1854, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 

Thomas Meynell, Esq., of North Kilvington and the Fryerage, 
Yarm, born in 1805, married 21st of September, 1841, Jane eldest 
daughter and co-heiress of the late William Mauleverer, Esq., of 
Arncliffe Hall, near Northallerton, but has no issue. He is a 
Magistrate for the North Riding of the County of York, and 
member of several learned and scientific societies. He has for 
many years acted as Chairman of the Stockton and Darlington 
Railway Company — the first public Railway which was estab- 
lished in the kingdom, and of which the late Thomas Meynell, 
Esq., laid the first rail. 

Arms.- — Az. Three bars gemelles on a chief, or. Ckest. — A 
blackmoor's head couped proper, banded arg. and az. 

North Kilvington Hall (now occupied by Captain Turton, of 
the 3rd Dragoon Guards) was built by the late Thomas Meynell, 
Esq., in 1835. It is a spacious mansion of brick, about a mile 
north-east of the site of the old Hall; surrounded by thriving 
plantations, extensive drives and walks, and commanding fine 
views of the Hambleton Hills and the country to the north and 
south. 

Over the front door in the Entrance Hall, are a noble pair of 
horns of the Buffalo or wild bull of Canada, supported on each 
side by two Russian trophies — one a chasseur musket, with the 
following inscription thereon, — " Taken by an officer himself of 
the gallant 33rd (or Wellington's own) at the battle of Alrna on 
the 20th of September, 1854." The other is a line musket, thus 



304 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

labelled — " Taken by an officer of the 56th regiment at the fall of 
Sevastopol, on the 8th of Sept., 1855." On either side of these, 
on carved oak brackets, are two heavy dragoon helmets, such as 
are now used in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, in which corps Captain 
Turton served. In the hall is a fine collection of British water 
and land Birds, amongst which are a curious lusus natures, a three 
legged hawk, given to Captain Turton by the Rev. F. Henson, 
B.D., rector of South Kilvington, who had it alive at Sidney 
Sussex College, Cambridge ; a beautiful specimen of the Roller, 
shot near Doncaster in 1833 ; a fine pair of Hoopoes, shot at Redcar 
in 1835 ; some Eagles, shot at Kildale and Roxby ; a pair of Wild 
Swans ; two Wild Cats, shot in Invernessshire ; a pied Wood- 
pecker and Wryneck, shot at Upsall ; Bitterns, Reeves, from 
Norfolk ; a White Sparrow, shot on the Brocas, near Eton College ; 
a pair of Quails, shot by the Captain at Cahir in Tipperary ; 
Ptarmigan, white and grey ; black and red Grouse, from Perth- 
shire ; Sheldrakes, Pintails, Puffins, Gulls, &c, &c, along with 
two Eggs of the Redwing, found near the beck in Kildale. In 
this hall is also the model of a brig made by a Middlesborough 
sailor, and purchased by its present owner when quite a boy for 
five guineas, at the Middlesborough Bazaar.* In the staircase is 
a large portrait of John Constable, owner of the Upsall estate and 
cavalier officer during the great civil war. He is represented in 
armour, with a slight beard and moustache, a broad laced collar 
falls upon his shoulders, and lace cuffs turn up from his hands ; 
the left hand rests upon his helmet placed before him, and the 
right grasps a short staff; a scarlet bandage is worn round the 
left arm. The countenance is expressive of high spirit and deter- 
mination. In an upper corner is inscribed " JOHN de constable, 
VPSALL, 1638 ; " opposite is a quaint old portrait of an Irish beggar 
woman, painted by Sharpe of Dublin : it is styled " Ould Judy 

* It will hardly be credited now, when Middlesborough has grown into a place of 
such importance as to threaten rivalry to Hull and Liverpool, with its mayor, alder- 
men, and councillors ; its 1500 municipal burgesses, and rateable property within 
the borough of the annual value of 30,000£. That less than forty years ago the above 
mentioned bazaar was held for the charitable purpose of assisting the poor inhabitants 
of the village of Middlesborough to build a church — yet such was the fact. 



NORTH KILVINGTON. 305 

Nclligen yer honour ; " and a more dirty, snuffy, lazy physigonomy 
never disgraced the fair beauties of the Emerald Isle. Amongst 
other curiosities we saw a tea caddy made of bog oak, and carved 
by a youthful genius of Dublin : one side bears the Upsall Arms — 
two spades saltier wise, with three crocks of gold ; — on the other 
is represented the traditional decapitation of John de Mowbray 
in " chop-head-loaning ; " — on the back is the meeting on London 
Bridge of the Quaker and the countryman who found the three 
crocks of gold ; — the front bears the arms of Capt. Turton, and the 
top the arms of the Kingdom of Assam, surrounded by wreaths 
of shamrocks and roses. Worthy of notice are also a valuable 
buhl cabinet lined with blue de roi velvet, purchased by Captain 
Turton at the sale of Lady Blessington, at Gore House ; and a fine 
old carved chair of walnut wood in the dining room, believed to 
be 200 years old ; a dumb waiter, a pair of candlesticks, and an 
arm chair — the last made from the old oak of Thirsk shambles by 
Mr. Coulson of Thirsk — are fine specimens of wood turning. Here 
is also a faithful portrait of Capt. Turton, painted in 1853, by Mr. 
Patten, R.A., of London. In the library is a cup made from the 
wood of the Mulberry tree which the immortal Shakspere planted 
as an ornament in his curious knotted garden at Stratford. On 
a silver shield is engraved the following lines by Garrick : — 

" Behold this fair goblet was carved from the tree, 
Which O ! my sweet Shakspere was planted by thee." 

These cups are exceedingly valuable, and sold at almost fabulous 
prices. This cup, along with a copy of Sir W. Hanmer's Shaks- 
pere in six volumes, splendidly illustrated and handsomely bound 
in white vellum, were given to the present owner by the Rev. J. 
G. Peters, and came into the latter gentleman's possession in the 
following manner, as is related on a fly leaf of one of the vols, of 
Shakspere. 

" Mrs. Geo. Berkeley, offers to the acceptance of the Rev. Wm. Peters, 
M.A., R.A., F.R.S., etc., etc., the learned, the very highly accomplished, 
yet truly polite, and uncommonly amiable and sincerely beloved friend of 
her unspeakably dear, yet departed son, the excellent-headed, and truly 
amiable hearted George ! — George Monk Berkeley, Esq re L.L.B. and 
F.S.S., Gentleman Commoner of Mag. Hall, Oxon., and student of the 



306 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Inner Temple ; son of the accomplished & generous Geo. Berkeley, 
L,L.D., a Prebendary of Canterbury, a Chancellor of Brecon, etc M etc., 
only grandchild of the famous and illustrious Geo. Berkeley, Lord Bishop 
of Cloyne in Ireland ; and only great granchild of the pious, immortal, 
& all accomplished Francis Cheny, Esq., of Shottesbroke Hall, Co. of 
Berks. * * * * * * These six volumes of Sir Wm. Hammer's 
Shakspere, is hereby presented to the Rev. Wm. Peters, together with a 
ring of diamonds that belonged to the wit Dean Swift, also a cup of 
mulberry wood, made from the famous Shakspere mulberry tree, pur- 
chased by Mr. M. Berkeley himself, & a true genuine one — at Stratford- 
on-Avon, when the former owner was ready to make oath it was genuine. 
These presents Madame G. B., feels are a very inadequate return for a 
present which no monarch on earth could have made her — which was a 
portrait in oils — Kit Kat size, of her respected & endeared son, the above 
named George, painted in Mr. Peters' best style — by his own exquisite 
and inimitable touch. So beautiful, yet so strikingly resemblingly portrait 
of that dearly beloved though departed young man was never limned 
* * *. This portrait of her dear George, by Mr. Peters, (his mother 
also an Irish woman) is bequeathed by the writer to the Trinity Coll. 
of Dublin, wishing it to be hung by the side of his grandfather now there. 
She does this in remembrance of the honour George gained whilst a 
student at that aforesaid college. 

Eliz. Berkeley. 
Mag. Lodge, April 27, 1790." 

Then follows in another hand writing — 

" Gulielmus Peters, M.A., R.A., P.R.S., etc., etc., dedit donam suo 
carissimo filio Joanni G. Peters, M.A., qui, affini suo, Edmundo Hen- 
rico Turton, natalicia, nona vii., mdcccxxxvii. donavit." 

Here are also preserved many original letters which passed be- 
tween John Turton, Esq., M.D., of Upsall and Brasted,,and many 
of the royal family of England — one from H.R.H. the Prince of 
Wales is thus : — 

" My dear doctor your kind letter arrived here this morning, I cannot 
express to you how sensible I am of this additional mark of the Queen's 
goodness and affection for me. I have been very unwell since I have 
been here, but not more than you have seen me in London. You know 
well that though a strong & healthy man by nature & that I have Provi- 
dence to thank for these advantages, still that mine is a very nervous & 
so far a delicate fibre and consequently the disorders of the body in general 
with me are the same to the mind. * * * *. I rise every morning 
at half-past seven, drink two glasses of these waters, dine punctually at 



NORTH KILVINGTON. 307 

five, & drink no wine in the course of the whole day, except a pint of 
claret after dinner, & I retire to bed regularly at half-past eleven at the 
latest. * * * * Had I felt myself at all more seriously indisposed, 
I should have written to you, as there is no one living my dear Turton 
in whom I have such faith as I have in you * * *." 

Signed, George P., Bath, April 11th, 1799. 

Another in a crabbed hand, and written on lines, was from 
Queen Charlotte to Dr. Turton, dated Weymouth, 18th Sep., 1800. 
One from the princess Mary is signed — " Affectionately yours, 
Mary." Here is also preserved a copy of Dr. Turton's reply to 
the princess Mary on her father's illness, in 1804, and suggestions 
for his future treatment. Amongst numbers of autographs of 
distinguished persons — Wellington, Nelson, the late Sir R. Peel, 
Daniel O'Connell, Lords Melbourne, Palmerston, and Aberdeen, 
Kean, Matthews, Ainsworth, &c, &c. — is an original letter from 
King Henry VIII. to Anne Boleyne, which came from Brasted 
Park, and was one of Dr. Turton's collection. — It runs thus — 

" The cause off my wrytyng at thys tyme Good sweett Hart is wonly 
to understand off your good helthe & pyperite, wereoff to know I wolde 
be as glade as in manner myne owne, (praying God that, and it be hys 
pleasure), to send us shortly togyder, for I promis you I long for it, how 
be it trust it shall nott be long to ; and seeing my darlyng is absent I 
can no less do than to sende her sume fleshe representyng my name, 
whyche is hart's fleshe, for your Henry prognosticating that hereafter 
God wyllyng you must enjoy sume of myne, whyche he pleasyd I wolde. 
Now as tochyng your syster mater, I have consyd Water Welche to 
wrytte to my Lord myne mynde therein, wherby I trust that Eve shall 
not have powre to dissayde Adam, for shurely what so ever its sayde it 
cannot so stand at hys honour but that he must neds take her hys naturall 
daughter, now in her extreme necessitie. No more to yoa att thys Time 
myne owne darlying but that wt a wish I woldt we wer togyder one 
evenynge onlie w fc the hande off yours." 

Here follows a curious monogram of the " Royal Blue Beans." 
O, the Great Defender of our Faith ! 

Much of the furniture in the library is made of black or bog 
oak, large quantities of which is found on Capt. Turton's estate 
at Roxby in Cleveland. 



308 THE YALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Adjoining the farmhouse, near the site of the Old Hall, is a 
Roman Catholic Chapel, the only one in the neighbourhood,* for 
the family of Meynell has steadily held " the ancient faith." The 
building is a plain modern structure, the exterior presenting 
nothing deserving of particular remark. 



* In 1706, the number of papists in Thirsk was twelve, Sowerby two, of which 
Mr. Henry Dinraore of 80Z. per ann. Filiskirk six, Kirkby Knole two, South Kil- 
vington twenty-two, Leake seventy-seven, of which Mr. Pinckney of 100?. per ann. 
Osmotherley nine.— Archbishop Sharpens MS. 



KNAYTON-CUM-BEAWITH. 309 



KXAYTON-CUM-BRAWITH. 



The most southerly township in the parish of Leake is Knayton.* 
The village is a short distance east of the present turnpike road 
leading from Thirsk to Yarm, though the ancient road passed 
through the village. It is situated 4 miles from Thirsk and 6 
from Northallerton. The soil appears well adapted to the growth 
of fruit trees, as the village is surrounded by thriving orchards. 

Before the Norman conquest, the Manor appears to have per- 
tained to the See of Durham. Whether St. Cuthbert protected 
it from the invaders or not we cannot certainly say, yet it appears 
to have escaped the devastation inflicted on almost every place 
around it. In Domesday Survey it is entered among the lands of 
the Bishop of Durham, as follows — 

" In Cheneveton, to be taxed four carucates, and there may be 
two ploughs. St. Cuthbert had it, and has it for one manor. The 
value in king Edward's time was twenty shillings, the same now/'f 
In the same record it is said to be in the manor of Alvertune, 
(North Allerton) to which it yet belongs, of which the Bishops of 
Kipon, since the formation of that See, are Lords. 

This township adjoins on the south-east the Lordship of Kirkby 
Knowle, the boundary of which has been a frequent source of liti- 
gation between the tenants of the Bishops of Durham and the 
owners of Kirkby Knowle, for the last five hundred years. — See 
Art. Kirkby Knowle. 

In the year 1589, a bridge across the brook between Knayton 
and Borrowby, " was builded att the charge of the countie." 

* This name is evidently of Saxon origin, and derived from "Knave/' a servant, 
and " ton," a town — the town or dwelling- of servants. 

t Bawdwen's Dom. Boc. p. 63. 



310 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



BRAWITH. 



The district called Bra with,* consists of about one hundred and 
fifty acres of rich meadow and pasture land on the western side of 
the township, adjoining the river Codbeck. In the middle of the 
seventeenth century this place was in possession of Peter Consitt, 
Esq., who married Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph Bell, Esq., of 
Thirsk.f 

The family of Consitt of Thirsk J and Brawith, is descended from 
Christopher Concitt of York, who was sheriff of that city in 1582, 
and Lord Mayor in the years 1599 and 1609. Subsequently they 

* This name originally "Braythwath," is probably derived from a ford, or Wath 
across the river Codbeck. 

f The following- particulars of the family of this gentleman, are from the Parish 
Register of Leake : — 

1747. Pregelly daughter of Mr. Peter Consit, bapt. January 28. 

1749. Eliz. daughter of Mr. Peter Consit, Feb. ye 15, 

1752. March 22nd, Margaret daughter of Peter Consit, Esq., & Elizth. of Brawith* 
bapt. 

1754. May 1, Warcop, son of Peter Consitt, Esq., & Eliz., of Brawith, bapt. 

1756. June 10, Margaret, daughter of Peter Consitt, Esq., & Elizth., of Brawith, 
bapt. 

1758. Dec. 26, Ann, daughter of Peter Consitt, Esq., & Eliz., of Brawith, bapt. 

Peter, who subsequently inherited the estate, must not have been born at Brawith, 
as his baptism is not recorded in the Leake Registers. 

t Of the Consitts of Thirsk, we give the following extracts from the Thirsk Parish 
Register : — 

1683. Jan. 24, Mr. Consit was married to Elizabeth Bell. 

1720. Oct. 12, Balph, son of Ralph Concit, Grocer, bapt. 

1722. June 22, Elizabeth, daughter of Ralph Concit, Merchant, died and was 
buried ye 25th. 

1726. Jan. 20th, Peter, son of Mr. Ralph Concitt, Mercht., bapt. 

1729. July 18th, Mary, daughter of Mr. Ralph Concett, Mer., bapt. 

1733. May 26th, Rachell, daughter of Mr. Ralph Concett, bapt. 



BllAWITII. 311 

settled in Thirsk, and became connected by marriage with the 
family of Bell. In the will of Robert Bell, dated Sept. 22nd, 
1707, Ave find the following bequest: — " I give to my son-in-law 
Peter Consitt and to his wife, each of them a broad piece of gold, 
and to each of his children five pounds." The next owner of 
Brawith, after the decease of the above mentioned Peter Consitt, 
was his son Warcop, born May 1st, 1754, whose initials W.C., 
1783, appear in the pavement behind the Hall at Brawith. He 
died unmarried in Dec, 1833 ; when his younger brother Peter 
succeeded to the estate, who died Dec. 7th, 1839, also unmarried; 
when the direct male line failing, the estates were devised by the 
will of Warcop Consett, Esq., to trustees (after the decease of his 
brother) for the use of his nephew, William Preston, Esq., son of 
the Rev. D. J. Preston of Askam Bryan, near York. 

The brothers Consitt resided here for more than two-thirds of a 
century, practising a kind of feudal hospitality, guarded by blood 
hounds and mastiffs, and attended solely by female domestics. 
Peter was quite a character, and is described by those who knew 
him as a tall, thin man, wearing a broad brimmed hat, and an old- 
fashioned claret, cloth coat, with flat, solid silver buttons of enor- 
mous breadth. 

The will devising the estates was a singular document, leaving 
the whole to the youngest son of their sister, who however was 
not to attain his majority, and come into possession until he was 
twenty-five years of age, which will be in 1860. In case of the 
demise of the youngest son, leaving no issue, the inheritence was 
to ascend in the scale of seniority to the eldest, who, according to 
the rule of contraries, was to inherit the last. The annual proceeds 
in the meantime are invested by the trustees in real estate in the 
neighbourhood, so that when the time arrives for the heir to enter 
into possession he will find an estate greatly enlarged to that 
which his ancestors enjoyed. 

The Hall, a modern mansion of the last century, is situated on 
low ground, near the Codbeck, surrounded by rich pasture lands, 
and almost hid by timber of the most luxuriant growth. It is of 
brick with coignes and weather mouldings of white stone. Amongst 



312 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

the family relics preserved therein, is a little old-fashioned silver 
tea pot, which was won in a horse race by a lady — it bears the 
inscription : — " Well ridden, Miriam Wrightson." 



BOEROWBY, 



Boxtnow T BY, also in the parish of Leake, is situated about a mile 
north-west from Knayton, in the wapontake of Ailertonshire. The 
village stands on the slope of a hill, which declines to the south, 
below flows a branch of the Codbeck, that rises among the gorges 
of the Hambleton hills, above Kepwick, and joins the main stream 
a short distance below this village. Like the sister village of 
Knayton, Borrowby is surrounded with orchards, for which the 
soil and situation appear highly favourable. The soil around 
and above the village, is of excellent quality, the lower grounds 
not so good, being clayey and cold. 

The manufacture of linen was formerly carried on extensively 
in this village, more than 200 of the inhabitants being engaged 
therein — now there are only six individuals who gain a livelihood 
by the loom. 

The Methodists have a Chapel here, and the Society of Friends 
a small Burial-ground. On the first introduction of the tenets of 
the Friends into Yorkshire by the preaching of George Fox, that 
extraordinary man held meetings at this place ; the people re- 
ceived him favourably, and his followers became numerous in the 
neighbourhood. * 

Borrowby appears to be twice mentioned in Domesday, under 
the name of Bergebi, as a berewic belonging to the manor of 
Northallerton, then in the King's hand, and waste.f Again, 
among the lands of William de Percy, " Gerlestre wapontake," 

* In the Journal of George Fox, are two entries relative to this place, the first in 
1651, the second in 1677. 

+ Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 10. 



BORROWBY. 313 

we find, " in Berghebi, Canute had eight carucates of land to be 
taxed, where there may be four ploughs. William has it, and it 
is waste. Value in King Edward's time, twenty shillings. Wood 
pasture, four quarentens long, and the same broad."* 

The term Gerlestre, used in Domesday, appears generally to 
apply to what is now called the wapontake of Bridforth, but not 
exclusively so, as we find some places entered under that head 
which are now in Allertonshire ; besides, the two wapontakes are 
so intermixed together at this particular point, that it is rather 
difficult to say with certainty what lands are in the one, and 
what in the other. The name Berghby is certainly that by 
which this place was known in very early times, as in the Ordina- 
tion of the Vicarage of Leake, in 1344, we find mention made of 
" the meadows of Berghby" (de Pratis de Berghby). The deriva- 
tion of the name appears to point out this village as the site of 
some fortified post or farm. 

This township is copyhold of the manor of Northallerton, of 
which the Bishop of Ripon is Lord. 



GUELDABLEf 

Is another township in this parish, the houses of which are so 
intermixed with those of Borrowby, that they only form one 
village ; though they are in two wapontakes, and the lands of 
different tenures, Gueldable is in Bridforth, and is freehold, 
while Borrowby, as already related, is in Allertonshire, and 
copyhold. 

The houses in the higher part of the village are very pleasantly 
situated, and command extensive and very beautiful views of the 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 173. 
* Probably derived from the Saxon Gyldan, to pay. Gueld, Geld, or Gild signifies 
tribute or tax, a payment of money, and money itself; from whence the best sort of 
money was called gold. As Geldable signifies a tax, or tribute, it is probable that 
this township was charged with the payment of a tax, from which the adjoining 
lands were exempt. 



314 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

country around. An ancient cross stands in the street, and is said 
to form the boundary between the two townships, and the two 
wapontakes. It consists of a square upright shaft, with a thin 
cap of limestone, elevated on four steps, and is apparently of con- 
siderable antiquity. 

Borrowby contains about 400, and Gueldable about 140 in- 
habitants. 



LANDMOTH-WITH-CATTO,* 

Which consists of only a few farmhouses, lies to the north of 
Borrowby, on the elevated ridge of land which is bounded by 
Cottcliffe wood, and the river Codbeck on the west. The soil is 
of excellent quality, and the prospects from this fine airy emi- 
nence are of great extent and exquisite beauty, embracing the 
whole range of the Hambleton Hills on the east, from Arncliff to 
Koulston Scar, with their thick woods, grey rocks, heath-clad 
hills, naked precipices, shaggy glens, knolls, waves, and swells of 
land of every imaginable size and form. To the northward the 
view extends into the county of Durham, as far as Darlington. 
To the west and south the country lies spread before the eye, like 
some gigantic map, studded with towns and villages, extending 
westward as far as the hills of Swaledale and Wensleydale. 
Southward the towers of York Minster rise from the plain on the 
distant horizon, with the country beyond misty and indistinct 
from distance. 

Landmoth House is situated a little east of the highest point 
of land, and is one of those ancient manor houses, with quaint 
gables, and wide chimneys, where the highest class of yeomanry 
practised in former days the rites of hospitality. The old house 
is an interesting fabric of the Tudor age ; over the entrance, 
carved in stone, are the builder's initials, W. T. 

* Previously written Landmote, Landmot, and Landmouth. Mot or Mote has 
probably some connection with the meetings, motes, or open air assemblies of the 
Saxons, as, from its situation, few places were better adapted for such purposes. 



LANDMOTH-WITH-CATTO. 315 

A family of considerable note, named Green, resided here, in 
the latter part of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth 
centuries. The first we find is William Green, whose daughter 
Elizabeth was married to Anthony Meinell, Esq., of North Kil- 
vington. John Green was the next owner, who died November 
7th, 1597. James Green appears to have succeeded him, who, 
August 9th, 1601, had a daughter baptised, named Petronella ; 
in 1604, a son, named Edmund ; and in 1606, another son, named 
Henry ; after which no further trace of them is to be found in 
the Leake registers. 

Ox Bank, another farmhouse in the immediate vicinity, is 
sometimes called Marygold Hall, probably from the large mary- 
gold, or Tudor rose, carved in stone above the door. Like the 
last mentioned, this is an ancient building, or at least a part of 
one, as the elaborately carved and ornamented doorways appear 
to have been intended for a building of much higher pretensions 
than the present. The entrance is between two square pillars, 
with foliated capitals ; an oval recess above contains the large 
stone marygold, beneath which are the initials and date, 

16 w"a. ™- 

The windows are divided, by mullions and transons, into four 
lights each. At the south-west corner is one side of another 
doorway, similar to the other, from the position of which it ap- 
pears that a great part of the house has been pulled down, which 
must have been the case, if these ornaments have not been de- 
rived from the destruction of some other building, for they do not 
correspond at all with the rest of this house. 

In Domesday, Landmot is entered as a berewic of the manor of 
Northallerton, then waste, and in the hands of the Xing. It is 
now the property of George Marwood, Esq., of Busby Hall, 
Cleveland. 



316 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



CROSBY, 

Another township in the parish of Leake, is now the property 
of Trustees under the will of the late Warcop Consett, Esq., of 
Brawith Hall, who have recently purchased the Hall and estates 
there from a family of the name of Dent. This township, at the 
time of the Domesday survey, was in the soke of the manor of 
Northallerton, and at that time waste. It was in the King's 
hands, and is thus noticed, 

" Manor. In Croxbi, Tor had one carucate of land to be taxed. 
Land to half a plough, — Five shillings.* 



NETHER SILTON, 

A Chafelry and township in the parish of Leake, is situate on 
the slope of a hill northward of the parish church, eight miles 
from Thirsk, and seven from Northallerton. The village does not 
present any features of remarkable interest. The Hall is an antique 
building, partly modernised, formerly the property of a family of 
the name of Hickes, now of Hobert M. Jaques, Esq., of Easby, 
near Richmond, with five hundred acres of land in the township. 
The Chapel of Ease is a plain building, rebuilt in 1812, as 
appears by an inscription over the entrance. 

This Chapel was rebuilt in 1812. 
The Hon. and Rt. Rev d Shute Barrington, 

Lord Bishop of Durham. 
Fowler Hickes, Esq re Lord of the Manor. 

1 Richard Hoggard, 
Churchwardens, y T ^ Tr . , „. 

J ames WeighilL 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 28. 



NETHER SILTON. 317 

Before the dissolution this Chapel was appropriated to the Priory 
of Guisborough ; it is now served by the vicar of Leake. 

In a field in front of the chapel stands a rough upright stone, 
bearing the following singular inscription : — 

H T G O M H S 

TBBWOTGWWG 

TWATEWAHH 

ATCLABWHEY 

A.D. 1765. 

A W, P S A Y A A. 

Sorely were we puzzled and perplexed to make out the meaning 
of this oddity, or indeed to find any meaning at all for it, and so 
we might have been, until " the crack of doom," had not a friendly 
passer-by told us that every letter was the initial of a word, and 
that it was a whim of the late Squire Hicks, to mark the site of 
the Old Manor House. The two first lines when written at length 
would be — 

Here the good old Manor House stood, 

The back beams were oak, the great walls were good. 

The meaning of the remainder had departed from our informant's 
memory ; but we were satisfied with what we had learnt, the key 
was found and those who love puzzles may unlock the no very 
deep mystery of this modern hieroglyphic. What pleased us infi- 
nitely more was the fine prospect of plain and mountain scenery 
visible from the spot. 

The annual sum of 381., is paid out of a farm in this township, 
belonging to Marshall Fowler, Esq., Preston Hall, near Stockton, 
to the Master of the Grammar School at Coxwold ; and part of 
the yearly rental of another farm here is devoted to the repairs of 
one of the windows in York Minster. 



318 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



ARDEN HALL. 



" A little lowly vale, — 
A lowly vale, and yet uplifted high 
Among- the mountains." — Wordsworth. 

At a distance of eight miles from Thirsk, and ten from Helmsley, 
in a narrow valley among the Hambleton Hills, stands Arden 
Hall,* the seat of Charles Tancred, Esq. 

At the time of the Domesday survey, this romantic spot was 
part of the possessions of Hugh, the son of Baldric, then a 
berewic of the manor of Bagby, and contained three carucates of 
land.f With the Vale of Mowbray, it passed to the powerful 
barons of that name, and was held as a sub-fee under them by 
the family of Hoton or Hutton. At that time it would be a 
savage woody glen, the haunt of the wild boar and the wolf. 

About the year 1150, Peter de Hoton founded here a monas- 
tery for nuns of the Benedictine order, and dedicated it to St. 
Andrew. He appears to have endowed it with the land on which 
it stood, and three carucates more in the vill. or territory of 
Arden. It was esteemed a great and meritorious action in those 
days to become the founder of a monastic establishment, as they 
thus secured the prayers of the religious there dwelling for their 

* Sometimes written Ardene, Erden, and Harden. It is probably derived from 
" Am," an eagle, and " Dcen," a deep valley, — the deep valley of the eagle. The 
name pleasantly recalls to mind Shakspere's delicious Forest of Arden, where we 
dwell, with Jaques, 

" Under the shade of melancholy boughs." 

t Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 197. 



ABDEN. HALL. 319 

own souls, and those of their posterity for ever. We cannot, 
however, but smile at the prudent piety of Peter de Hoton, who 
gave to God and holy mother church what was of very little 
value to himself. How the poor nuns were to build their house 
and church, and find the means of existence in this wilderness, 
would puzzle St. Andrew himself to tell. The grant was con- 
firmed by Roger de Mowbray, the superior lord of the fee. 
Another charter of coiifirmation from Elizabeth, wife of William 
de Carlton, and heiress of Peter de Hoton, recites the boundaries 
of the land. These confirmations were delivered to Alice, the 
Prioress, by Geoffrey, heir of the said Peter and Elizabeth, in the 
4th Henry IV., A. D. 1405. 

King John, by a charter granted in the second year of his 
reign, confirmed to the nuns a considerable donation of land in 
Holme, given to them by Ralph de Belver, and Constance, his 
wife ; three bovates of land in Kirkeby, given by Henry de 
Kirkeby, with two tofts ; three carucates of land by Peter de 
Tresby ; beside the site of the Abbey, which are here stated as 
having been given by Roger de Mowbray, and confirmed by 
Nigel de Mowbray. 

Roger, the son of Roger de Hoton, gave two bovates of land 
near Thirsk, 36th Henry III. 

The possessions of this nunnery are not recorded in the taxa- 
tion of Pope Nicholas the 4th, A. D. 1291.* 



•priortgges of &rtien. 

Muriel occurs prioress in 1189. 

Agatha occurs prioress in the 46th of Henry III. 

Margaret occurs in 1289, 18th Edward I. 

A prioress, who is not named, was installed on the 11th of the 
kalends of December, 1304. 

Beatrice de Colton was elected on the 8th kalend Feb. (Jan. 
23rd), 1314. 

* Dugdale's Mon. Ang\, vol. iv., p.p. 284, 285. 



320 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Isabella Cowell was made prioress on the 7th kalend May 
(April 25), 1324. (Burton calls her Connell, and dates her ap- 
pointment, evidently by mistake, in 1329, upon her resignation.) 

Beatrice de Holm was elected prioress on the 5th kal. May 
(April 27th), 1329. 

An election of a prioress took place in 1393. The person 
chosen was probably Eleanor, who occurs in 1396, and of whom 
a particular or two not very creditable is detailed. 

Alice occurs as prioress in the 6th Henry IV., A. D. 1405. 

A license for the election of another prioress was granted, the 
vacancy occasioned by death, in 1459. 

Margery de Danby was confirmed prioress, Feb. 17th, 1502. 

Tanner, from a manuscript in the library of Benet Coll., Cam- 
bridge, says, herein about the time of the dissolution, were nine 
religious, their whole income being rated, according to Dugdale, 
at no more than 12/. 6d. Speed makes the revenues of this house 
to amount to 13/. 7s. 4c?., and a manuscript Valor in Benet Coll, 
Library, to 20/. Is. 4d. 

Burton says,* that Arden priory was granted 32nd Henry VIII. , 
to Thomas Culpeper, and belonged in his time to Mr. Tancred. 
The particular for the grant to Culpeper is in the Augmentation 
Office. 

" The situation of most religious houses was in private, solitary 
places ; but that of this priory is enclosed by hills almost hanging 
over it, hiding the sun for the most part of the year from it ; and 
has such a gloomy aspect as to affect even strangers.'" 

The situation is one of loneliness and almost complete seclusion, 
the modern mansion occupying the site of the ancient priory, 
stands nearly in the centre of the little valley, on the southern 
brink of Arden-little-beck, a tributary of the river Rye ; to the 
southward the hills rise abrupt and high, thickly clad with wood ; 
the valley extends eastward, but bends in such a manner that the 
hills of Hawnby and Easter-side, (stony and rugged), appear to 
close it in completely in that direction ; northward, extends a strip 

* Mon. Ebor., p. 91. 



ARDEN HALL. 321 

of meadow land, above which rises the wood-clad hill to the heathy 
moor beyond ; westward, the valley gradually closes, the sides 
thickly wooded, until it ends in a narrow, naked gorge, with a 
small stream flowing through it. A road winds up the valley from 
Hawnby, and begins the ascent of the steep hill in front of the 
mansion. 

" Ever the hollow path twines on 
Beneath steep bank and threatening stone." 

The only relics of the priory remaining, are a chimney, probably 
that of the kitchen, which yet retains its antique appearance, and 
performs the same part in the modern building as it did in the old. 
It is popularly said to be the title deed, by which a payment of 
40/. a year from the owner of the park lands of Upsall, is secured 
to the lord of the manor of Arden ; while the chimney endures 
the claim holds good — when it ceases to exist, the claim becomes 
void. This is the common story told in the neighbourhood, if true, 
it must certainly be ranked among singular tenures. Two tomb- 
stones were dug up about sixty years ago ; when found they bore 
inscriptions now defaced and illegible ; they are now laid as flags 
in the yard. A fine spring of water walled round and protected, 
which supplied the establishment, is yet called the Nun's Well. 
The mill also yet remains, but so altered and modernised as to re- 
tain none of its antique features. Human bones have frequently 
been dug up in the kitchen garden, where was formerly the 
burial ground of the nunnery. The church is supposed to have 
stood where the poultry oflices now are. The gardens and grounds 
are not of great extent, but kept in very neat order, forming quite 
a contrast to the somewhat savage scenery around. 

The Tancreds were formerly of considerable note and wealth 
in the midland parts of Yorkshire, and divided into many branches ; 
we find them seated at Raskelf, Thornton Bridge, Boroughbridge, 
and Whixley, as well as at Arden ; all of which, except the last, 
are now extinct. 



322 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



OVER SILTON 



Over Silton is a parish situated to the north of Nether Silton, 
and, as the name denotes, occupies higher ground, extending up 
to the moors ; it is seven miles from Northallerton, and eight 
from Thirsk. In the year 780, we read in the Saxon Chronicle, 
that the high-reaves of the North-humbrians burned Bern, the 
ealdorman, at Silton,* on the eighth before the kalends of 
January. What crime the unfortunate Bern had committed we 
are not informed, nor why his punishment was so severe. 

At the time of the Domesday survey, Silton was in the King's 
hands, and is entered in the following manner : — 

" Manor. In Silvetune, Archil had three carucates to be 
taxed. Land to one plough and a half."f 

This manor and estate subsequently became part of the posses- 
sions of the family of Bellasise, Earls Fauconberg, a long and 
illustrious line, first settled at Bellasise, in the county of Durham, 
soon after the conquest ; afterwards at Newburgh Park, near 
Coxwold, in Yorkshire. Henry Belasyse, of Newburgh, Esq., 
then High Sheriff of Yorkshire, was knighted at York by King 
James I., on his Majesty's journey to London, April 17th, 1603, 
and was created a Baronet upon the institution of the order, June 
29th, 1611. On his decease, he was succeeded by his son, 

Sir Thomas Belasyse, born in 1557, who was advanced to the 

* We have sought in vain to find another Silton in Northumbria, therefore we fix 
the scene of Bern's punishment here. 

t Bawdwen's Dom. Boc., p. 28. 



OVER SILTON. 323 

peerage by the title of Baron Fauconberg, of Yarum, in the 
county of York, on the 25th of May, 1627. His Lordship, ad- 
hering to the fortunes of King Charles I., was created, on the 
31st of January, 1642, Viscount Fauconberg, of Henknowle, in 
the county palatine of Durham. On the extinction of the family 
of Belasyse, the estates came into the possession of 

Sir George Wombwell, Bart., who married, in 1824, Georgiana, 
second daughter of Thomas Orby Hunter, Esq., of Croyland 
Abbey, in the County of Lincoln, by whom he had issue, George 
Orby, the present Baronet ; Adolphus, a Captain in the 12th 
Lancers, and others. Sir George died in 1855, and was suc- 
ceeded by his eldest son, 

Sir George Orby Wombwell, Bart. This gallant gentleman 
served with the 17th Lancers during the Eastern campaigns of 
1854-5, in the Crimea, took part in the charge of the light ca- 
valry brigade at Balaclava, Oct. 25th, 1854, in which 600 British 
cavalry charged a whole Russian army. Mr. Russell, the Times 
correspondent, thus mentions the part Sir George took in that 
terrible affair : — " Mr. Wombwell, an officer of the 17th, had a 
narrow escape. Being dragged from his horse and taken pri- 
soner by the Cossacks, a Russian officer told him not to be afraid, 
for although the soldiers were rather rough in their manners, he 
would be well taken care of. Mr. Wombwell saved them the 
trouble, for in the last charge he escaped and got back to his 
lines." A letter, from an officer serving on board the Himalaya, 
describes the manner of Sir George's escape, — " Mr. Wombwell, 
of the 17th Lancers, had a most extraordinary escape, showing a 
monstrous deal of pluck. His horse was — it is said two were — 
shot under him, and he was taken prisoner, but while being 
marched off, he saw an opportunity, mounted a Russian horse, 
and galloped back, rejoining some of his brigade, who had re- 
formed, and charging again without sword or pistol." We can- 
not sufficiently admire the cool courage of the young soldier, who 
rode through this valley of death, and so cleverly executed his 
escape, without even a wound. The uniform, pierced in several 
places by Cossacks' lances, and the military saddle and bridle 



324 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

which Sir George used on this memorable occasion, are now pre- 
served in the armoury at Newborough. 

The pure air, invigorating climate, and abundance of game of 
these parts, make them the delight of the leading sportsmen of 
England with the gun, amongst whom we may rank H.R.H. 
the Duke of Cambridge, the present Commander-in-Chief of 
our army. 

The village of Silton does not present any features of remark- 
able interest. A short distance westward stands a lofty conical 
mount, called Carlow Hill, and to the east is a rough ridge, end- 
ing like a promontory, called Gnipe Hill ; both these names are 
significant of the different races of men who have dwelt here, — 
" Carl," Sax., a husbandman, " how," a hill ; the word hill being 
superfluous, and added by a people who did not know the mean- 
ing of " how." Gnipe — from the Danish, Gnipa — a point or 
promontory, a designation exactly describing this hill, which 
forms a ridge from near Over Silton, and terminates abruptly a 
short distance east of Nether Silton. 

The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is situated in the fields, 
half a mile from the village, and consists of a porch, nave, and 
chancel, with a bell turret, containing one bell, on the west 
gable. The entrance into the nave is through an Anglo-Norman 
arch, the soffit square, and the front ornamented with chevron or 
zig-zag work ; the outer mouldings are deep and plain. The 
walls of the nave are flanked by three buttresses ; the chancel has 
none, except at the angles. The east window is of three narrow 
lights, with geometrical tracery in the sweep of the arch : the 
west window is of two similar lights. The others are of two 
lights each ; near the chancel door is one of much smaller dimen- 
sions, probably coeval with the first building of the church. 

The roof of the nave is of a low pitch, and covered with lead ; 
that of the chancel is more modern, higher, and slated. 

The interior, which needs renovation, does not present any- 
thing very interesting ; the arch between the nave and chancel 
is circular, and in the chancel are the remains of an elaborately 
worked screen ; the arms of Nevill and Scrope, Archbishops of 



OVER SILTON. 325 

York in the fourteenth century, are yet to be seen in the roof 
of the nave. The only monument is a tablet against the south 
wall, to the memory of " The Rev. C. E. Swales, who died Feb. 
6, 1848, aged 64 years, Incumbent of this parish 34 years." 

The base of an ancient cross yet stands on its pedestal in the 
middle of the church-yard. Near the porch is a tombstone of a 
singular shape, like a stone coffin inverted ; there are also three 
or four singular little headstones, about nine inches in thickness, 
and rising only a foot above the ground, with the inscription on 
the upper surface, which is short and simple, as " John Wilson, 
Interred June the 16, A. D. 1719." The others are earlier, A. D. 
1683 and 1624. 

The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Master and 
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. In Bacon's Liber Regis, 
12/. is the certified value, and it is styled a " Chapel to Kilburne 
or Cowsby." In the Terriers of the seventeenth century, it is 
styled a vicarage, with a vicarage house in good repair. There 
was also a quantity of glebe in the hands of the vicar, and an 
annual payment of 15/. from Lord Falconberg. In 1707 it was 
returned at only 121., in 1818 at 38/. per annum. Augmented in 
1757, 1786, 1810, and 1817, with 200/. each time from the Par- 
liamentary grant by lot ; and in 1827, with 300/. from the same 
source, to meet benefactions of 100/. from the Master and Fellows 
of Trinity College, 50/. from the Rev. C. E. Swales, Incumbent, 
and the inhabitants, and 50/. from Mr. Marshall's Trustees. In 
1832, with 200/., to meet a benefaction of 200/. from the Master 
and Fellows of Trin. Coll., Camb. Present net value, 90/. per 
ann. Present Incumbent, the Rev. John Oxlee. 

The Register books commence in 1678, but do not contain any- 
thing particularly interesting. Since 1813, the time when the 
ages of the deceased are first given, there are many entries of age 
upwards of 80. The most advanced is that of Ann Gale, aged 92, 
buried May 29th, 1855. 

In the precipitous cliffs, a short distance north-west of the vil- 
lage, called " the Scarrs," is a cave in the rock, known by the 
name of Hobthrush Hall, which was formerly the abode of a 



326 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

goblin of a somewhat remarkable character, who appears by the 
stories yet current relating to him, to have been possessed of 
great agility, as he was in the habit of jumping from the hills 
above his dwelling to the top of Carlhow Hill, about half a mile 
distant. He was not of the malignant kind, 

" That silent brood o'er quicksand, bog, or fen, 
Far from the sheltering roof and haunts of men." 

On the contrary, he was one of those friendly to man, of whom 
the immortal Milton had heard fireside tales, — 

-how the drudging goblin sweat 



To earn his cream bowl duly set, 
When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, 
His shadowy flail had thrashed the corn, 
That ten day labourers could not end ; 
Then flings him down, the lubber fiend, 
And, stretched out all the chimney's length, 
Basks at the fire his hairy strength ; 
And, crop-full, out of door he flings, 
Ere the first cock his matin rings." 

The Silton goblin was a true and faithful servant to a person 
named Weighall, who kept the village inn, and rented the land 
on which his hall was situate. It was Hob's invariable practice 
to churn the cream during the night, which was prepared for 
him the evening before, for which his reward was a large slice of 
bread and butter, always placed ready for him when the family 
retired to bed, and always gone in the morning. One night, the 
cream was put into the churn as usual, but no bread and butter 
placed beside it. Hob was so disgusted with this piece of base 
ingratitude, that he never came to churn more, and appears to 
have entirely left the neighbourhood. His dwelling yet remains, 
a rugged cave among the rocks, dark, wet, and uncomfortable, 
but extending a considerable distance underground. 

About a mile north of Silton, on the steep side of Thimbleby 
Banks, is a lofty rock of singular shape, called " the hanging 
stone." This rock is of coarse grit, of considerable size, and 
stands in such a position, that it appears to hang in air, and, 
looking at it from below, we wonder why it does not fall into the 
valley beneath. It is ascended from behind, and is highest in 



OVER SILTON. 327 

front, sloping backwards to the rocky hill, which is of equal alti- 
tude. The top is shaped like the sole of a gigantic shoe, about 
eighteen feet in length. It is very nicely balanced upon the 
slender supports beneath ; the top is not level, else it would have 
made a fitting altar for those whose places of worship were " the 
earth o'ergazing mountains." The prospect from the top is beau- 
tiful, and of almost unlimited extent on all sides but to the east. 
Looking northward, the villages of Thimbleby and Osmo- 
therley are close at hand, but deep below ; beyond, the ruins of 
Mount Grace nestle under the thickly-timbered side of the 
gloomy Arncliffe. Harlsey, with its white-fronted hall, crowns a 
gentle eminence beyond, not far from the slender remains of the 
ancient castle, that once commanded the plain around ; further 
north we look over the extensive table lands, which stretch far 
into the county of Durham. Westward, the hills of Teesdale, 
Swaledale, and Wensleydale close the prospect ; the huge bulk of 
Ingleborough being visible over all in the far distant horizon. 
Southward, the view is unlimited over the Vale of Mowbray, and 
the Plain of York. At a small farmstead immediately in the 
plain below, called Nunhouse, tradition says there is a bull's skin 
full of gold hid in the earth. Would he be a lucky man who 
should find it ? 

Silton contains about 95 inhabitants, and 1137 acres of land : 
the value of the assessed property is 559/. 15s. 6d; and in 1849 
the poor-rates were 18/. 12s. 10c/. 

The whole township of Over Silton is subject to the payment 
of tithes. The rent-charge, instead of tithes, for the whole parish 
is 150/., paid to Sir George O. Wombwell, Bart, as Lessee under 
Trinity College, Cambridge. 

There is a neat and commodious School-house, built in 1844, 
by the late Sir George Wombwell, Bart. 

The father of the present Incumbent of Over Silton was the 
Rev. John Oxlee, late Hector of Molesworth, Hunts., renowned 
for his extraordinary learning as a Linguist, Critic, and Divine ; 
and it is with pleasure and pride that we can claim this prodigy 



328 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

of erudition, this monarch of Biblical Literature and Universal 
History, as a native of Yorkshire. 

He was born at Guisborough, in Cleveland, Sept. 25, 1779. 
When a youth he removed from his native town to Sunderland, 
and applied for a time to business ; but afterwards quitted it, and 
devoted himself to study, beginning with the Mathematics and 
the Latin language. In the latter he made such rapid progress, 
that in 1802, when an assistant able to write Latin with ease 
and elegance was wanted by the celebrated Dr. Vicesimus Knox, 
at that time Master of Tunbridge Grammar School : Mr. Oxlee 
wrote to him in that language, and immediately received the 
appointment of Second Master. There he commenced his He- 
brew, Chaldee, and Syriac studies, and spent four years of his 
life, previous to entering holy orders. He was ordained Deacon 
by Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, Dec. 29th, 1805, and Priest 
by Edward Vernon, Bishop of Carlisle, for the Archbishop of 
York, on Sunday, Sept. 20th, 1807* He was ordained to the 
Curacy of Egton-cum-Goathland and Glaisdale, near Whitby, 
where he married Susannah, daughter of Mr. Ralph Wood, his 
stipend being 40Z. per annum, which was 10Z. more than had 
been given to any former curate. 

In 1811 he removed to the curacy of Stonegrave, where he be- 
came also family tutor to the Rev. George Worsley, the Rector. 
From June 26th, 1815, he held the Rectory of Scawton for the 
Master of Downing College, Cambridge, until 1836, when the late 
Archbishop of York presented him to the Rectory of Molesworth, 
in the county of Huntingdon, from which place " he was called 
to his rest," Jan. 30th, 1854. 

His power of acquiring languages has never been equalled in 
any age or nation ; this self-made, self-educated man, at the time 
of his death, had made himself master of a hundred and twenty 
different languages and dialects, shewing at once his prodigious 
abilities, as well as his industry and untiring perseverence. In 
many of them he was obliged to form his own grammar and dic- 
tionary, and in some cases even the alphabet to commence with. 

At Tunbridge, Mr. Oxlee totally lost the sight of one eye, 



OVER SILTON. 329 

through an attack of inflammation, but the other remained strong 
and clear to the end of his life. 

His favourite exercise was walking, and he has been known to 
travel on foot from Hovingham to Hull, a distance of fifty miles, 
to procure for himself a choice book or two in the Hebrew, or 
some other Oriental language.* 

His first attempt as an author was in 1805, after Bishop 
Horsley had published a new translation of the prophet Hosea, 
which was ignorantly criticised in the Imperial Review, but 
triumphantly defended by Mr. Oxlee, in the Anti-Jacobin, No. 
80, vol. xx. 

In 1815 was published the first volume of his great work, 
" The Christian Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation, con- 
sidered and maintained upon the principles of Judaism." The 
second volume was printed in 1820, and the third and concluding 
one in 1850. 

In 1821, being then Rector of Scawton and Curate of Stone- 
grave, he published three sermons, on " The Power, Origin, and 
Succession of the Christian Hierarchy, and especially that of the 
Church of England, with copious notes." The first of these ser- 
mons, on Absolution, was preached at the Archdeaconal Visita- 
tion of the Worshipful Charles Bailie, M.A., at Thirsk, July 10th, 
1816, which created such a sensation, that it was instantly re- 
ported, " Mr. Oxlee was preaching for a Cardinal's Hat." The 
consequence was, that the Archdeacon, in proposing Mr. Oxlee's 
health after dinner, made no allusion whatever to the sermon ; 
but paid him the following compliment : — He said he had been 
in conversation with a clergyman in the north, who received pri- 
vate pupils from Harrow, Eton, and all the public schools, to 
prepare for the Universities, but had never met with one so far 
advanced as Mr. Worsley, who had just come from Mr. Oxlee's 
tuition, — the Rev. Thomas Worsley, at present Master of Down- 
ing College, Cambridge. 

In 1845, appeared Mr. Oxlee's Letters to the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, " On the inexpediency and futility of any attempt 

• Whitby Gazette, Dec. 19, 1857. 



330 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

to convert the Jews to the Christian Faith, in the way and manner 
hitherto practised ; being a general discussion of the whole 
Jewish question." 

The other works of this learned divine are — " Three Letters to 
the Archbishop of Cashel, on the Apocryphal Books of Enoch, 
Ezra, and Isaiah, and on the late age of the Sepher, Zophar, &c. 

" Three Letters to Mr. C. Wellbeloved, on Unitarian Error and 
Miscriticism." 

" Three Letters to the Rev. F. Nolan, and Two Letters to the 
Bishop of Salisbury, on the spurious Text of the Heavenly Wit- 
nesses." 

" A Reply to the Rev. R. Towers, the Roman Catholic Head 
of Ampleforth College, near York, wherein is contained an invi- 
tation to a Theological discussion, for the purposes of ascertaining 
whether the Roman Catholics or the Protestants possess the truer 
Bible." 

" Three more Letters on the inutility of any attempt to convert 
the Jews to the Christian Faith, in the manner hitherto practised ; 
with a confutation of the Diabolarchy." 

Contributions to " Valpy's Classical Journal ;" " The Chris- 
tian Remembrancer," for 1822 ; " The Voice of Israel f " The 
Voice of Jacob ;" " Jewish Chronicle." But more especially, 
" Seven Letters addressed to S. M., the Jew," in the second and 
third vols, of the Jewish Repository. Many other works he left 
behind him, in manuscript, which are yet unpublished. 

His published works are in the hands of J. Masters, Aldersgate 
Street, London. 

(See The Critic, Nov. 1st, 1853 ; The YorJcshireman, June 3rd, 
1854 ; Wakefield Journal, June 2nd, 1854 ; and The Yorkshire 
Gazette, Sept. 23rd, 1854.) 

u In his work on the Trinity and Incarnation, the accumulation of 
learning is astonishing ; page after page presents to us correctly-printed 
extracts from the Jewish writers, both early and late, and are accom- 
panied by an exact English translation. This production is alone 
sufficient to place its author at once in the foremost rank of Hebrew 
scholars." — The Journal of Sacred Literature, April, 1854. 



OYER SILTON. 331 

11 The Letters to Archbishop Lawrence are filled with exceedingly- 
rare extracts, and Dr. Nicholls, the late Regius Professor of Hebrew at 
Oxford, is said to have expressed a wonder how the works quoted had 
been obtained ; nor can we refrain from wondering, when we consider 
that his benefice was worth but 228/. a year." 

Idem. Also Yorkshire Gazette, Sept. 23rd, 1854. 

14 Learned far beyond the ordinary scope of the best lights of the 
modern Church Establishment of England, John Oxlee possessed a 
rare gift of analytical power, which enabled him to employ his accumu- 
lated treasures with a facility seldom equalled. A linguist who had 
conquered one hundred and twenty different languages and dialects, he 
was at home in the history of all the ancient peoples, and had few co- 
temporaries whose knowledge of Hebrew literature equalled his. 

The Asmonean, New York, Aug. 1st, 1856. 

" The late John Oxlee was an extraordinary scholar. Had prefer- 
ment in the church been given to merit, and not favour, John Oxlee 
would have adorned an episcopal chair, instead of being suffered to go 
through life unacknowledged by the church which he so zealously served. 
We believe that since Buxtorf, no Gentile excelled him in Rabbinical 
lore. But what particularly endears his memory to the Jewish scholar 
was the candour of the deceased." — Jewish Chronicle, Jan 29th, 1858. 

After the above eloquent eulogies on the learning, ability, and 
candour of this great divine, anything said by us in his praise 
would be useless. Mr. Oxlee's collection of rare books is still 
entire, challenging the acquirements of any two men in existence 
to read and explain the meaning of a few pages of them. 

We have only to add, that a biography of this learned Linguist, 
Critic, and Divine, may shortly be expected from the pen of his 
son, the present Incumbent of Over Silton. 



332 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



KEPWICK 



Kepwick is a township, situate in a recess of the Hambleton Hills, 
and belongs to the parishes of Over Silton, Cowsby, and Leake ; 
the road from Northallerton to Helmsley passes through the vil- 
lage, which presents no features of remarkable interest, excepting 
the mountain scenery, of which it commands some splendid views. 

At the time of the Domesday Survey, this place was in the king's 
hands, and was occupied by Archil and Ghilemicel as tenants, 
who had five carucates of land to be taxed. Land to one plough.* 

Subsequently it formed part of the possessions of the " Lords 
Burrows and Bussyes." Afterwards a family of the name of 
Lepton held it, in whose hands it continued for at least four gene- 
rations ; first, Christopher Lepton,f then John Lepton, Esq., and 
afterwards " Thomas Lepton, Esquire, sonne and heyre of John 
Lepton." In the 19th of James I., A.D. 1620, John Lepton " was 
seized and possessed of all the land and territory lying and being 
in the said Town, Village, Hamlett, and Manor of Kepwick." In 
the same year a dispute having arisen between the Master and 
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, patrons of the living of 
Over Silton, and John Lepton who farmed the tithes belonging to 
the Vicar of Leake, and the Rector of Cowsby in the township of 
Kepwick, respecting the boundaries of the portions of Kepwick 
belonging to the several parishes ; legal proceedings were com- 
menced, and the matter in dispute was at length settled by a 

* Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 28. 
+ " 1603, May 3rd, Agnes, widow of Christopher Lepton of Kepwick, died at the 
age of 103 years."— Leake Parish Register. 



KEPWICK. 333 

commission appointed for that purpose. The commissioners 
were Francis Pinckney, Thomas Cowling, and "William Nelson, 
gentlemen, from whose report we make the following extract : — 

" We having according to our bounden dutyes endeavoured our 
selves by measuring and proportioning of the Land in the said 
Lordshipp, doe fynde that there doth belong unto every several 
Oxgang in the said Lordshipp, fifteene acres of Land, Meadowe 
and Pasture, and that there is eight Oxgangs belonging to the 
P'ishe of Leake, eight Oxgangs to the P'ishe of Cowsby, and ail 
the rest of the Lordshipp to the P'she of Over Silton." 

Thomas Lepton, Esq., was owner of the lordship of Kepwick 
until 1630, when it was purchased by Thomas, Lord Fauconberg, 
of the illustrious house of Bellasise. It is now the property of 
Joshua Samuel Crompton, Esq., of Sion Hill and Azerley Hall ; 
who about twenty years ago constructed a tramway three miles 
and a half in length, from the limestone quarries on the side of 
Hambleton, to kilns built near the Yarm and Thirsk turnpike road, 
not far from Leake church. This road is worked partly by gravity, 
partly by horse power ; from the quarries there is a very steep 
incline half a mile in length, worked by an endless chain. 

The Cromptons, owners of this township, are a younger branch 
of the Cromptons late of "Wood End. 

This township contains 170 inhabitants, and 2930 acres of land ; 
of this quantity 500 acres are arable, 835 meadow and pasture, 200 
quarry and intakes, and 1400 moors and woodlands. 

The portion of land near the mill in Cowsby, pays a modus of 
21. annually to the rector of that parish. Another portion in the 
parish of Leake, pays annually 21. 2s. to the Vicar of that place, 
and a further sum of 13s. 4c/. to the Trustees of the late "War cop 
Consitt, Esq., of Brawith Hall. The remainder of the township 
as already stated, is in the parish of Over Silton. 

There is a respectable school in this village, attended by more 
than forty pupils, the master of which receives an annual payment 
of 21. out of the Kepwick estate. 



334 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



OSMOTHERLEY. 



Osmotherley* is a parish town in the wapontake of Allerton- 
shire, about seven miles from Northallerton and nearly twelve 
from Thirsk. The situation is romantic and beautiful, on the 
southern slope of one of the Hambleton range of hills, and sur- 
rounded on three sides by woods and valleys. The scenery around 
is rich and finely varied, and some of the views are of great extent 
and beauty. The soil is of good quality, mostly devoted to meadow 
and pasturage. The village is open, airy, clean, and well built ; 
the houses being principally of stone, which is quarried in the 
neighbourhood, of an excellent quality for building purposes. 
The river Codbeck flows in a narrow valley south of the village ; 

* This name is supposed with great probability, to be derived from the Saxon 
personal appellative " Osmund," and " ley," a field — Osmunderley or the field of 
Osmund. The following legend as to the origin of the present name of this village 
is current among the inhabitants. 

This Village formerly called Teviotdale, was changed to that of Osmotherley from 
the following circumstances. 

" When king Oswald's (of Northumberland's) son, Oswald was born, the wise men 
and magicians were sent for to court, to predict and foretell the life and fortune of 
the new born prince, they all agreed that he would be drowned. The indulgent 
maternal Queen would have carried him to Cheviot, a remarkable hill in their own 
country, but for the troubles then subsisting in the North : she therefore brought 
him to a lofty hill in peaceful Cleveland, called Roseberry, and caused a cell or cave 
to be made near the top thereof, in order to prevent his foretold unhappy death ; but, 
alas ! in vain, for the fates who spare nobody dissolved the rugged rocks into a flow- 
ing stream, and by drowning the son put a period to all the mother's cares, though 
not her sorrows ; for, ordering him to be interred in Teviotdale church, she mourned 
with such inconsolable grief, that she soon followed him, and was, according to her 
fervent desire, laid by her tenderly beloved darling child. The head of the mother 
and son, cut in stone, may be seen at the East end of Teviotdale church ; and from 
the saying of the people * Os-by-his-mother-iay, ' this place got the name of 
Osmotherley." 



OSMOTHERLEY. 335 

and on its sides are some extensive bleach grounds ; which business 
has been carried on here for a considerable period, formerly by 
the family of Wetherall, now by that of Bovill, whose pleasant 
mansion called Walk Mill, is situate by the side of the brook, 
near the Thirsk and Yarm turnpike road. Alum shale is abun- 
dant in this parish, and the manufacture of alum was formerly 
carried on here, but has been discontinued for some time. 

The parish includes the townships of Osmotherley, Ellerbeck, 
West Harlsey, and Thimbleby, and contains an area of 7740 acres 
and nearly 1500 inhabitants. 

At the time of the Domesday Survey this place was in the 
hands of the king, and is thus noticed, 

" Manor. In Asmundrelac Ligulf and Eilaf, had five carucates 
to be taxed. Land to two ploughs." 

" Manor. In Elrebec, Ligulf had five carucates to be taxed. 
Land to two ploughs. Thirty shillings." * 

From this it appears that in the year 1086, Osmotherley was 
held by only two tenants, who from their names seem to have 
been Danes. 

Again, among the lands of " Hugh the son of Baldric " in 
Yorkshire, we find the following entry relative to Ellerbeck, 

" North Biding. Gerlestre Wapontake. Manor. In Alrebec, 
Gamel had one carucate of land to be taxed. There is land to 
half a plough. Girrard, a vassal of Hugh's, has now there four 
villanes with one plough, and five acres of meadow. The whole 
half a mile long and two quarentens broad. Value in king 
Edward's time eight pence, now three shillings."! 

Osmotherley was held by the Prior and Convent of Durham 
de Rege in capite, and answered for the third part of a knight's 
fee, but paid no rent. 

The Church, soon after the conquest, became part of the possess- 
ions of the Bishops of Durham, and of their patronage. The 
Rectory was divided into three prebends or portions, whereupon 
it was esteemed a prebendal church, consisting of three preben- 

• Bawdwen's Dom. Boc, p. 28. f Ibid, p. 198. 



336 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

daries or rectors ; in October, 1322, they were all consolidated by- 
William de Melton, Archbishop of York, who then ordained that 
those three portions in the same church should be thenceforth a 
simple and pure prebend, and altogether free from the cure of souls 
for the future ; the vicar thereof then ordained taking care of the 
same. Notwithstanding the former ordination, the church con- 
tinued still in three portions or distinct prebends.* 

A.D. 1322. A Vicar was here ordained by William de Melton, 
to consist of a mansion house and fifteen marks per ann. to be paid 
by the three prebendaries, together with the dead mortuaries and 
oblations for marriages, churchings, and burials. The Vicar to 
bear all ordinary burdens (except the repairing of the chancel) — 
I should say rebuilding it, for that is now here, and to find a priest 
to serve the Chapel of West Harlsey. — Archbishop Sharpens MS. 

The prebendaries of Osmotherley being mentioned on the records 
temp. Edw. First, some have thought this to have been a collegiate 
church, bat it seems rather to have been only a rectory divided 
into three distinct parts or portions, and it is so rated in the 
Lincoln taxation. But it was afterwards appropriated to three 
sinecure portionists and a vicar endowed. Yet in the Archbishop's 
certificate of all Hospitals, Colleges, &c, made 37th Hen. 8th, 
there is — " The three prebends simpters within the parish church 
of Osmotherley, the yearly value 18£." f 

At the dissolution Simon Banks was a prebendary, and had an 
annuity of 21. 13s. 4d., which he enjoyed in 1553 : also Richard 
Beke was another prebendary and had a like annuity. J 

The benefice is a discharged vicarage, formerly in the peculiar 
jurisdiction of the Court of the Bishop of Durham, for Allerton 
and Allertonshire, now in that of York. The patronage was in 
the Bishops of Durham, until the erection of the see of Ripon, 
when it was transferred to the Bishop of that Diocese. 

In the valor of Pope Nicholas IV., A. D. 1292, it is valued in 
three parts, — pars Thorne at 91. 6s. 8d., pars Rogeri in eadem, 

* Torre's MSS., Peculiars, p. 1309. 
+ Stevens I., p. 64. $ Willis. 



OSMOTHERLEY. 337 

9/. 6s. Sd., pars Alterius Thorne, 9/. 65. Sd. In the Nova Tax, 
twenty-six years afterwards, the parts are valued at 4/. each. 

In Bacon's Liber Regis, it stands thus, — " Clear yearly value, 
12/. 7s. Od. King's Books, 8/. 10s. Od. Osmotherley, alias Os- 
monderley, V. (St. Peter) in Allertonshire. Of exempt jurisdic- 
tion. In decim : vitul. Agn. &c. Portionar. sive Preb. sive 
Rectoria de Osmotherley. Propr. Bishop of Durham." 

On June 4th, 1565, the Crown granted a lease of this Rectory 
for twenty-one years, to James Conyers, on paying an annual 
pension of 10/. to the Vicar of Osmotherley and his successors. 

The living was augmented in 1766, with 200/. ; in 1786, with 
200/. ; in 1795, with 200/. ; and in 1815, with 1000/., from the 
parliamentary grant — all by lot. Present value, 113/. per ann. 

The tithes of the township of Osmotherley are paid to Mr. 
Masterman, of Danby, near Northallerton, who receives about 
210/. annually, paying the vicar 10/. The other townships are 
tithe-free. 

The glebe lands belonging to this benefice are in lay hands. 
The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, by an arrangement with the 
present Bishop of Ripon, are Lords of the Manor of Osmotherley; 
and as such have considerable property in leasehold and copy- 
hold lands, in woods, and extensive moors ; as also in annual 
rentals of various descriptions. That body has been memorial- 
ised by the vicar, with the support of the last and present Bishop 
of Ripon, for an augmentation to this living, but without effect. 

The Church, dedicated to St. Peter, is pleasantly situated on 
the south side of the village, and is a modern structure, with a 
few ancient fragments. The porch is the oldest part of the 
building ; the entrance arch is Norman, adorned with a row of 
beak-headed ornaments ; the outer moulding with zig-zag work, 
or chevrons ; the shafts at the sides of the doorway are partly 
destroyed. A square tower at the west end, with angular but- 
tresses, is the next oldest part. The tower contains three bells ; 
the middle one was broken some years ago, in a drunken freak 
consequent on the election of the Registrar for the Riding. This 
bell is very ancient, said to have been brought from Mount Grace 



338 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

at the dissolution. The piece which was knocked out with a 
sledge hammer still lies in the belfry. The long narrow nave 
and chancel are both new. Short clustered columns sustain the 
pointed arch leading from the nave into the chancel. The win- 
dows are all modern, with large sash squares. The interior con- 
tains no inscriptions of ancient date. The following are copied 
from tablets against the walls of the chancel : — 

Ad dextram intra Cancellos 

Jacet Resurrectura, 

Maria Euphrasia Wetherall 

Johann. Peacock M. D. filia natu maxima. 

Quse Anno iEtatis xxxvi mortem obiit 

Idibus Julii 1837. 

Hocce monumentum 

Benj. Johann. Wetherall de Walkmill Arm. 

In Uxorem Carissimam 

Pietatis ergo Fideique 

Ponendum Curavit. 

Against the north wall of the chancel, a tablet tells a dis- 
tressing tale of sudden bereavement. 

11 In token of affectionate respect and esteem for pastoral faithfulness 
and private worth, this tablet, erected by sorrowing parishioners and 
friends, records the death of William Clere Burgess, M.A., Vicar of this 
parish, at the early age of 37, March 10th, 1840. 

By the same fever which deprived the parish of his able ministrations, 
four of his children were brought to the house appointed for all living. 

Saliza, aged 10 years, died March 2nd. 
Susan, aged 6 years, died the same day. 
Charlotte, aged 2 years, the day following. 
William Clere, aged 4 years, March 8th. 

The Register Books commence in 1696, deficient in 1717 — 1722. 

The Rev. Henry Jones, M.A., presented by the late Bishop of 
Ripon in 1852, is the present Vicar. 

Two small endowments, bequeathed by the Rev. W. Nicholson 
in 1757, and by Daniel Tyerman in 1786, for teaching poor chil- 
dren, were lost by the operation of the Mortmain Act. 

A handsome National School, with class-rooms, &c, has lately 
been completed, capable of accommodating 120 children. It is 



OSMCTHERLEY. 339 

supported by voluntary contributions, and highly spoken of in 
the government report for 1858. 

The lioman Catholics have a Chapel in this village. 

The Society of Friends have a Meeting-house, erected about 
1690, with a small Burial-ground attached. 

The Wesleyan Methodists have a Chapel here, and are nu- 
merous in the neighbourhood. John Wesley, their founder, first 
preached here in 1745. On Tuesday, Sept. 17th, he makes the 
following entry in his journal : — 

" I saw the poor remains of the old chapel on the brow of the 
hill, as well as those of the Carthusian monastery (called Mount 
Grace) which lay at the foot of it. The walls of the church, of 
the cloister, and some of the cells, are tolerably entire, and one 
may still discern the partitions between the little gardens, one of 
which belonged to every cell." 

Osmotherley had formerly a market, which was held on Satur- 
day, but it has long been discontinued. The cross yet remains — 
a broken square shaft, the base supported by three steps ; near 
it is a singular stone table, for what purpose erected we know 
not ; it is apparently of considerable age. 

The assessed property in the parish is valued at 68407., and 
the poor-rates in 1848 were 354/. 2s. That of the township of 
Osmotherley, 18037., poor-rates 1617. Is. 



340 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



WEST HARLSEY 

Is a township pleasantly situated on an eminence to the west- 
ward of Osmotherley. At the time of the Domesday survey, it 
was in the hands of the King, and occupied "by Ligulf, and was 
rated at three carucates and a half. Land to two ploughs. Sub- 
sequently a castle was erected here, but of its history we know 
very little. Leland says that here " Strangwaise the judge 
builded a praty castelle." Of this "praty" building very few frag- 
ments remain. Three large vaults, with circular arches, have 
been converted into stalls for cattle, the outer ashler work has 
been torn down, and removed, and a mass of solid grouting alone 
remains ; the top is overgrown with bushes and ivy. The most 
southerly vault yet exhibits the remains of a fire-place. A large 
square tower stood where the kitchen of the farm-house now 
stands, until the year 1815, when it was struck by lightning on 
Palm Saturday, and rent from top to bottom in such a manner, 
that it was obliged to be taken down. A woman sitting by the 
fire was struck by the electric fluid at the same time, her cap was 
set on fire, but, strange to say, she was not otherwise harmed. 
She preserved the fragments of the head dress till the time of her 
death, as a memento of her narrow escape at that time. 

The Harlsey estate is now the property of the Earl of 
Harewood. 



THIMBLEBY. 341 



THIMBLEBY, 

A township and village in the parish, of Osmotherley, lies on 
the south side of the brook Codbeck. The Lodge, a mansion sur- 
rounded by splendid sylvan and mountain scenery, is the seat of^ 
Robert Haynes, Esq. 

This village is slightly mentioned in Domesday, as pertaining 
to the soke of the manor of Northallerton, then in the hands of 
the King. 

During the seventeenth century, the lordship of Thimbleby 
was one of the many domains of the great Yorkshire house of 
Wandesford, afterwards Earls "Wandesford, in Ireland. Its last 
owner of that name was Sir Christopher Wandesford, who was 
attainted by King James's Parliament, in 1689, and had his 
estates sequestered, but on the Revolution, was sworn of the privy 
council by King William, and again, in 1702, by Queen Anne, 
who advanced him to the peerage of Ireland in 1706, as Baron 
Wandesford and Viscount Castlecomer. In the year 1694 he sold 
the manor of Thimbleby to Richard Pierse, Esq., of Hutton Bon- 
ville, second son of John Pierse, of Bedale. 

In 1838, Mr. R. W. C. Pierse sold Thimbleby Lodge, with the 
estate attached, to Robert Haynes, Esq., of Barbadoes, the present 
owner. 

The family of Haynes is of considerable antiquity in England, 
and being staunch loyalists, had to emigrate to Barbadoes during 
the Commonwealth, where they became large landed proprietors. 
Richard Haynes, Esq., married Anne Elcock, and had by her, 
besides other issue, — 



342 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Robert, who represented St. John's, Barbadoes, where he acted 
as a magistrate. He was Lieutenant-General of Militia of that 
island, and also for 35 years a member and Speaker of the House 
of Assembly, Barbadoes. He married Thomasine, daughter of 
— Clarke, Esq., and relict of Nathaniel Barrow, Esq., by whom 
he had, besides other issue, — 

Robert Haynes, Esq., now of Thimbleby Lodge, who married 
firstly, May 25th, 1815, Sarah Anne, daughter of Joseph Payne, 
Esq., of Barbadoes, by whom he had three children, Robert, 
Sarah- Anne, and Jane Alleyne. He married secondly, Sept. 
26th, 1825, Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Reece, Esq., and by 
her has issue, — William, Edmund Lee, Jonathan Wynyerd, 
Elizabeth, Caroline Anne, Frederick Hutchinson, and Henry. 
Mr. Haynes, when in Barbadoes, was for 13 years a magistrate 
and member of the House of Assembly of that island. 

Arms : Quarterly, 1st and 4th, arg. three crescents paly, wavy, 
gules and az. ; 2nd and 3rd, two billets, argent. Crest : A stork ; 
wings displayed ppr., in the beak a serpent of the last. 



MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 343 



MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 



About two miles from the village of Osinotherley, and one from 
the once-busy Cleveland Tontine Inn, are the ruins of the Car- 
thusian Priory of Mount Grace. The situation is at once roman- 
tic and secluded, at the western foot of a steep wooded mountain, 
which rises abruptly from the walls to the eastward, so that in 
the winter months the sun would have to ascend high in the 
heavens before the lonely monastery would be illumined by the 
cheerful light. This gloom might be suitable to the rigid aus- 
terity of the Carthusians, who followed the strictest rule of mo- 
nastic life. 

About the year 1396, Thomas Holland, Duke of Surrey, Earl 
of Kent, and Lord Wake, founded this house, and dedicated it to 
the Blessed Virgin and St. Nicholas. He endowed it with his 
manor of Bordelby, prqpe Cleveland, and willed, for the future, 
that it should be called the House of Mount Grace, of Ingleby ; 
and by assent of the prior of the Grand Carthusians, made Robert 
de Treadway the first prior, to whom and his successors, he 
granted and confirmed in pure alms his said manor of Bordelby, 
to be an habitation for the said prior and monks, and their suc- 
cessors; and enjoined them especially to recommend in their 
masses, prayers, and divine services, the good estates of King 
Richard II. and Queen Isabella, his consort; and of himself, the 
said Thomas, Duke of Surrey, and Joan, his wife.* 

In the 22nd Richard II. , at the special instance of the same 
Thomas, Duke of Surrey, the King granted to Edmund, prior of 
the house of Mount Grace, and the monks thereof, and their suc- 

* Vide Charter of Foundation, Dug. Mon. Ang., vol. I. p. 968. 



344 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

cessors, the lands and possessions of the Religious at Hinckley, in 
the county of Leicester, of Wharham, in Dorsetshire, and of 
Caresbrook, in Southamptonshire, three alien priories belonging 
to the abbey of St. Mary, in Lyra, in Normandy, to hold the 
same as long as the war between England and France should 
continue. But he dying soon after in arms against King Henry 
IV., before all the buildings were finished, the work was at a 
stand, and the right of the monks to their possessions questioned, 
till King Henry VI., in the year 1440, confirmed in parliament 
all the duke's grants to them. The buildings were then com- 
pleted, and the austere brethren continued on the spot until the 
general dissolution of the monastic orders in England. 

The habits of the Carthusians were entirely white, except a 
plaited black cloak. Their bed was of straw, and on it a felt or 
coarse cloth ; their covering of sheep skins, or the coarsest cloth ; 
their clothing, two hair cloths, two cowls, two pairs of hose, 
cloak, &c., all coarse.* 

The revenues of this house at the dissolution, were found to be 

382/. 5s. lHd. gross, and 323/. 2s. lOjcl net.f John Wilson was 

* Fosbroke's Brit. Monach., chap. lix. 

| A. D. 1553, here remained in charge 
In fees 
And the following- pensions, viz.: — 
To the last prior (John Wilson) 
To Henry Harris and Robert Marshall, £7 each 
To Richard Shipping-, Thomas Diconson, Wm. Prisse 

and Leonard Hall, £6 13s. 4d. each 
To Jno. Wills and Roger Thompson, £3 6s. 8d. each. 
To Robt. Shepley and Jno. Saunderson, £2 each 



The list of priors is very deficient, the following being all that are given by 
Burton : — 

1396: Robert Tredway. 1399 : Edmundus . 142 : Robert Layton. 1476: 

Thomas . John Wilson, the last prior. 

The following testamentary burials took place here: — 

William Anthorp, rector of Deghton, by will proved in 1432, ordered his body to 
be buried in St. Mary's Church at Mountgrace, and gave thereto a chalice of silver, 
gilt, and twelve spoons. 

Joan, relict of Sir William de Ingleby, Knt., by her will proved in 1478. 

Thomas Darel, Esq., of Sezay, by will proved iu 1500. 

James Strangwaies, of West Laythes, in Whorlton parish, by will proved in 1534, 
was interred here. 



£ s. 


d. 


10 





52 





60 





14 





'£ 26 13 


4 


6 13 


4 


4 





£173 6 


8 



MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 345 

the last prior. The surrender was enrolled on the 18th Decem- 
ber, 31st of Henry YIIL, and in the following year the king 
granted to James Strangwaies, Knight, the site of the priory of 
Mount Grace, in the county of York, with the church, hells, and 
cemetary belonging to the same ; two fields, called Calf Closes ; 
the meadow called Broadings, and the manor of Moreton, near East 
Harlsey, in the same county, which lately belonged to the monas- 
tery of Kievaux ; to hold of the king in capite by military service. 

Strangwaies soon afterwards disposed of the site of the priory 
to Thomas Lascelles, Esq., who converted part of the monastic 
buildings into a mansion. This was done in the year 1569, as 
appears by that date, and the initials T. L., which yet remain 
over the principal entrance. It was subsequently sold by the 
Rev. Robert Lascelles, to the Mauleverers, in the representative 
of which family in yet continues.* 

Though situated less than half a mile from the high road, the 
ruins are so surrounded by lofty trees, that they are not visible 
until we come close to them. The part converted by Thomas 
Lascelles into a mansion, is that which first meets the view, and 
is yet inhabited by the families of the workmen on the estate ; its 
aspect is more modern than other parts of the building, having 
windows in the Tudor style. The west front is 220 yards in 
length, the walls of a considerable part of it are yet of their ori- 
ginal height, partly flanked by buttresses of four stages each. 
The southern end is mantled with ivy of the most luxuriant 
growth ; near the entrance is a gigantic plant of an uncommon 
kind, distinguished by the smallness of its leaf from the common 
ivy. The entrance into the enclosure is by a gateway thirteen 
feet wide, which has had a room above it ; the groining has fallen 
down, leaving the main arches, three in number, yet standing. 
Turning to the right, we come upon the foundation of a range of 
buildings, eighteen feet wide within, by one hundred in length. 
It has been two stories in height ; the lower does not appear to 
have been lighted from the west, and the wall on the other side 

* Arms : Sable, three greyhounds courant in pale, argent, collared or. Crest : a 
maple branch arising out of the trunk of a tree. Motto : En Dieu ma Foy. 



346 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

is now broken down ; the upper has had five square-headed win- 
dows of two lights each, the openings of which are now almost 
hid by the compact growth of ivy. Along the southern side has 
also been a range of buildings twenty feet wide, the upper part 
lighted by a range of square-headed windows of two lights each, 
opening to the south. The outer wall is yet of the original 
height ; the inner is broken down to the ground ; the gable at the 
east end is yet complete. The lofty outer wall is continued along 
the east side, close to the foot of the thickly-wooded hill. The 
remains of the church are on the north side of this enclosure, and 
constitute the most picturesque part of the ruins ; the tower, nave, 
transept, and north wall of the choir yet remain of considerable 
height. It has been of the usual cruciform shape, with a slender 
square tower rising at the junction of the cross. The chancel has 
been about forty feet in length, by thirty in breadth ; the east 
end and south side walls have disappeared, and a large ash tree 
has grown within, since it was abandoned by the monks. The 
north wall yet remains about half its length, of the original 
height, with two windows of three lights each. The nave is 
about forty-five feet in length, by twenty-seven in breadth ; the 
walls are nearly complete. The north transept is nine feet in 
length, from the line of the nave, and twenty-two in breadth. A 
piscina in the wall yet points out the place where an altar has 
stood. The south transept is of the same breadth as the north, 
but twenty-two feet in length. Part of the tracery yet remains 
in the great south window of this transept ; it has been of five 
lights. The tower is about fourteen feet square, and stands on 
the eastern side of the transept, resting on four neat pointed 
arches. The winding stone staircase, which is very narrow, yet 
remains nearly perfect, a few steps on the tipper part being want- 
ing : it has only ascended into the chamber where the bells have 
been rung. The tower is apparently of its original height, but 
the upper part is wreathed around with such a compact mass of 
ivy, that none of the stone work on the outside is visible. 

Passing from the Church, we enter another enclosure on the 
north, which may be denominated the quadrangle ; it is surroun- 



MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 347 

ded by a high wall, in which may be seen the doorways into the 
cells of the monks, which have been arranged around it, twenty 
in number, five on each side of the square. On one side of the 
entrance of each is an opening about a foot square, halfway through 
the wall, then turning at a right angle into the cell just beyond 
the door : through which provisions or any other small articles 
might be received into the cell without opening the door. Opposite 
the end of the north transept is a shallow trough, about forty 
inches in length by ten in breadth, where probably the monks per- 
formed ablution before entering the church. Over the door of a 
cell at the south-east corner, are the arms of the Scropes of Upsall, 
carved in stone. The cells have ranged completely round this 
enclosure, and have been about twenty feet square, of two stories 
in height, and the lower rooms, at least on the gloomy eastern side, 
have been lighted by three small windows each. There also ap- 
pears to have been a small chapel or private confessional attached 
to each cell, if we may judge from what seems to have been the 
piscina of an altar in a small apartment on one side of every cell. 
But the arrangement of the offices, cells, and all parts of the mo- 
nastic buildings, are so different from those of the Benedictine and 
Cistercian houses, that no elucidation of the distribution of the 
apartments can be obtained from a comparison with the well 
known plans on which those houses were generally built ; nor, 
indeed, do any of the monastic ruins in the county present any 
similarity to this ; it is doubly interesting as the unique specimen 
of a Carthusian house in Yorkshire. 

No tombs or inscriptions of any kind are visible ; an excavation 
of the site would probably disclose many interesting curiosities, as 
well as many peculiarities in the economy of this, the most austere 
of the monastic orders. Nor would it be difficult or expensive to 
make the site of this monastery one of the most pleasing and in- 
teresting spots in the North Hiding. Clear out the rubbish, and 
ruins from the church and cells ; form the area into a lawn or 
orchard, intersected with walks and adorned with shrubs and 
flowers, and it would form an object not easily surpassed in 
attraction. 



348 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

The kitchen is in the southern enclosure, west of the church, 
and is in such a complete state, that were it roofed over and pro- 
perly furnished, it would yet answer its original purpose. The 
chimney is of its full height ; part of the oven, huilt of bricks for 
baking bread remains, and the stones at the back of the ample 
fire-place are still red with their former fires. 

On the western side of the house was situate the mill, that 
necessary adjunct of every monastic establishment ; the remains 
of the fish-ponds, equally indispensable, can yet be traced. At a 
short distance from the south-east corner of the ruins, just within 
the wood, is the Well which supplied the priory with water: it is 
walled round and covered with a neat dome of hewn stone. It is 
called St. John's well by all but young ladies, who call it the 
wishing well ; and a source of amusement it is to them to thrust 
pins through ivy leaves, throw them into the water, and then utter 
the wish most dear to the heart. What that may be we cannot 
pretend to know, and if we knew durst not presume to tell. The 
first time we visited the ruins we saw many of the pin-stuck 
leaves in the water ; there had been a pic-nic or social tea party 
in the priory during the day. We drank of the water, which is 
excellent, and while doing so, had the audacity to think that 
we had — 

" Mused on ruins grey 
With years ; and drank from old and fabulous wells." 

On the summit of the mountain east of the priory, near the place 
where the stone was quarried for its erection, are the ruins of a 
small building called the Lady Chapel, which was founded in the 
year 1515. It is of very difficult access, and does not at present 
contain any thing remarkable. Numerous miracles are reported 
to have been performed in this Chapel by our Lady's help, such as 
the sudden recovery of a child that seemed dead, and the cure of 
many from the sweating sickness and other afflicting maladies.* 
This would be in the days of the " ancient faith," when credulity 
abounded more than now. At present both our Lady and her 
chapel are left to neglect and desecration. 

* Graves' Cleveland, p. 135. 



MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 349 



THE HAMBLETON HILLS. 



Any account of the Vale of Mowbray, leaving out the Hambleton* 
Hills would be incomplete, as they form its eastern boundary, and 
add much to the variety and beauty of its scenery. 

This range of hills may be styled the Western front of the 
Eastern moorlands of Yorkshire ; a tract of country extending 
about twenty miles from south to north, by about sixty from east 
to west. It is an elevated, and generally sterile region, rising 
into many bleak and barren mountains, yet intersected by valleys 
of great fertility and beauty. The western front of this lofty 
region is alone known by the name of Hambleton. 

From the village of Kilburn,f an hour's walk brings us to the 
top of Rolston Scar, the most south-westerly point of this range 

*" This name," says the learned and unfortunate Eugene Aram, "is derived not 
from the elevation of these hills, but from their figure to the eye ; which is that of 
half a globe, with the convexity upwards. Any hill, or mountain of such a form, the 
Irish to this day call Hemmel, and they imposed this name immediately from their 
resemblance to the heavens considered as to their convexity. The syllable don, or 
dun, Mons, needs no illustration." Hamildon or Hambleton, therefore signifies, the 
Heavenly mountain. The name appears to be found in many languages — as the 
Himalaya, or heavenly mountains of India ; the Sanscrit, himala, corresponding to 
Mceso-Gothic, himins, Alemmanic ; himil, German, Swedish, and Danish ; hemmel: 
Old Norse, himin ; Dutch, hemel. 

+ On the steep side of the hill the figure of a large white horse was cut in the turf 
in November, 1857. The projector was Mr. Thomas Taylor, a native of Kilburn, 
now resident in London. The total length of this equine monster is one hundred 
and eighty feet, and the height eighty feet, the quantity of ground he covers is three 
roods — to make a fence around him would enclose two acres — six tons of lime were 
employed in giving him the requisite whiteness, and thirty-three men were at work 
on him November 4th, the day he was completed. The land he stands on belongs to 
Mr. Henry Dresser of Kilburn Hall. On a clear day this figure can be seen at an 
immense distance. 



350 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

of hills. The face of this cliff is an abrupt precipice two hundred 
feet in depth, at the foot of which lie scattered immense masses of 
broken fragments which have fallen from the face of the cliff, 
which is of oolitic limestone, ragged, jagged, and uneven. To- 
wards the south and west the prospect is of unlimited vastness, 
the earth and sky appearing to melt into each other on the far- 
away horizon. An enumeration of a few of the most easily dis- 
tinguished places may not be uninteresting ; standing on the crest 
of the hill, " turning with easy eye," towards the south-east, the 
eye gladly rests upon the ivy-clad ruins of Byland Abbey. A little 
southward is Newburgh Park, the site of another monastery, sub- 
sequently the mansion of earls Fauconberg, and now that of Sir 
George Orby Womb well, Bart. The grassy glades, lofty groves, 
woods and waters round the house, constitute a most delightful 
picture. On the eminence, nearly south, stands the pleasant 
village of Coxwold, with its elegant church, rich in Fauconberg 
monuments. Beyond, is seen Craike Castle, on its conical hill, 
and that splendid pile, York Minster, massive and grand, seem- 
ing as if ambitious to lift its head to the level of the peak on 
which we stand. Over the plain to the south and south-west, 
the eye wanders delighted, though somewhat confused, for the 
picture is too large to comprehend, and the objects far too multi- 
farious to describe. The hills of Craven and Wensleydale bound 
the prospect on the west, and the long Vale of Mowbray stretches 
towards the north. The only object we appear to need to com- 
pose a complete picture of natural beauty, is a view of the sea, 
with its vast amplitude and sublime associations. Close to the 
west of " this specular mount," separated from it only by a nar- 
row valley, is Hood Hill, a detached eminence partly covered 
with wood. Near its top is a huge block of stone, which some 
have deemed a Druidical altar. 

The land, on the top of the hill is, generally speaking, level ; 
along the edge the soil is of a good quality, enclosed and culti- 
vated, resting directly on a bed of limestone ; a short distance 
eastward, it is of a peaty nature, more sterile, and covered with 
short bushy ling. 



THE HAMBLETON HILLS. 351 

What must strike the traveller with most astonishment in this 
elevated and now thinly inhabited region, is the great number of 
barrows and earth-works, consisting of trenches, dykes, and other 
defensive erections spread over it. They are unquestionably of 
great antiquity ; they have been erected at a great cost of labour, 
and from their bulk and frequency, indicate that at some remote 
period this has been the home of a population far more numerous 
than at the present time. They cannot have been the work of 
an agricultural community, for the district around them neither 
is, nor ever has been, cultivated to any extent. Their situation 
and structure point them out as the work of a pastoral and war- 
like people ; and despite the fictions of the poets, the pastoral age 
was always a barbarous one. 

The mind instinctively asks, by whom, and at what period, 
were these works erected ? Conjecture must supply the place of 
historic fact ; and we should refer to the Romano-British period, 
as the most probable of their erection ; and suppose that the 
Brigantes, driven from the plains by the civilised and better 
armed Romans, made their dwellings on these hills, and fortified 
them against a sudden surprise ; whence they could make incur- 
sions on the plains below, and here find a safe retreat for them- 
selves and plunder, in case of attack. The bogs, moors, rocks, and 
impassible glens of the moorland region, stretching away to the 
North Sea, afforded them the means of defence, and rendered a 
successful invasion almost impossible. If such was the time when 
these mounds were raised, and these hills occupied, — and we 
cannot point to any other period so likely, or with so many con- 
curring circumstances favouring the conjecture, — these barrows 
and earth- works have existed at least 1600 years. 

The first mound we met with after ascending the hill, is a 
tumulus about six feet in height, and forty yards in circumfe- 
rence ; it does not appear to have been opened ; there is a cup- 
shaped cavity in the top, about three feet deep. 

Pointing directly at Hood Grange, and running easterly across 
the ridge towards Oldstead, is a mound twelve yards wide, by 
about nine feet in height, with a trench of corresponding width 



352 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

and depth on the northern side. This has been a work of im- 
mense labour ; how far it runs in an easterly direction we know 
not, as we did not explore its full extent. Deep traces of ancient 
trackways, which have been much used, run along the highest 
part of the hill, north and south. Another trench about seven 
feet deep, with a ridge on each side, crosses in an easterly direc- 
tion, about two hundred yards south of the road leading from 
Thirsk to Helmsley. Here we first obtain a view into the ro- 
mantic By dale, with the wolds in the back ground. Duncombe 
Terrace, with a temple at each end, is a very conspicuous object ; 
beneath, embowered in thick woods, are the venerable remains of 
Eievaux Abbey, but not visible from this place. Towards the 
north-east, hills peep over hills, and one bleak heathy ridge rises 
behind another to a great distance. The Hambleton Houses, 
well known in the sporting world from the number of race-horses 
trained there, are about half a mile to the eastward.* These 
houses, with the lands adjoining, were formerly the property of 
the Knights of St. John. On the dissolution of that Commandery, 
they came into the hands of the Archbishops of York, and were 
held on lease by the family of Elsley, until the year 1853. The 
villages of Cold Kir by and Scawton are seen, a little lower down, 
on the road leading to Helmsley. About sixty yards from this 
road, to the north, is another tumulus, about seven feet high, and 
forty-five yards in circuit, with a hollow basin in the top, about 
fifteen feet in diameter ; near which is another of a conical form, 
apparently complete. 

We now approach the dizzy summit of the White-stone Cliff, f 
the deepest precipice in the whole range ; it has also suffered the 
most recent disruption ; the massive fragments which have fallen 

* Hambleton, if not the birth place, was the training ground of Baron Ward, one 
of the most extraordinary characters of modern times. He was brought up as a 
jockey, and leit Hambleton as a boy in the pay of Prince Lichtenstein, of Hungary. 
Few men have passed a more romantic life than Ward,— the groom, statesman, and 
friend of sovereigns. He died at Vienna, Oct. 12th, 1858, pursuing the rustic occu- 
pation of a farmer, carrying with him to the grave many curious state secrets. 

t This cliff, with the pasture and wood below it, called Garbut, to the edge of 
Gormire, is the property of C. H. Elsley, Esq., Kecorder of York, and was purchased 
from the late Mrs. Lawrence, of Studley Royal, about forty years ago, along with the 
extra-parochial place called White-stone Cliff, or more properly, White-stone Cote. 



HAMBLETON HILLS. 353 

from the face, lie piled in irregular confusion at the bottom, from 
whence a thick tangled wood extends down to the side of 

(Sormtre Safee, 

A beautiful sheet of water, sleeping calm and tranquil in its 
hollow bed, formed at some remote period, by a land-slip from 
the face and foot of the neighbouring precipice. Of this move- 
ment there are yet evident traces in the many waves, or swells of 
land, which have rolled outwards, towards the village of Sutton ; 
the face of the country being broken by deep narrow glens, or 
rather gullies, unseen until we are just on their brinks, as though 
the matter had rushed down in a semi-liquid state, and stiffened 
before it had time to find its level. Coming suddenly upon this 
fine sheet of water, without any warning of its proximity, we 
look down upon it with surprise and delight. The romantic 
beauty of its situation and the scenery around are its chief at- 
tractions. Though on elevated ground, the land rises from it 
on all sides, soon to fall again, except towards the cliff. A path 
runs round the lake, the circuit of which we were told is exactly 
a mile. There is no supply of water but what is derived from 
rain or unseen springs ; and the only outlet is a swallow in the 
rock, on the side nearest the cliff, into which, in a wet season, the 
water rushes with great rapidity ; popular report says it finds its 
way under the mountain, and again emerges to daylight near the 
village of Cold Kirby, some three miles distant. More probably 
it supplies the very copious springs near Hood Grange. The lake 
is of a circular form, elongated to a point towards the north-west. 
The depth in the middle is twenty-seven feet, thence shelving to 
the sides, where the water is quite shallow; its whole area is 
twenty-seven acres. It is not to be expected that such a water 
in such a situation should be without its legend. Here stood, — 
says the voice of tradition, — a long time ago, a populous town ; 
one night, suddenly, the earth opened and swallowed it up, and 
in its place a lake, without a bottom, appeared. 

The lake and the adjoining farm are the property of Sir George 
Orby Wombwell, Bart., of Newburgh Park. Before the enclo- 



354 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

sure of the common lands, the lake alone belonged to the Earls 
Fauconberg. The canons of Newburgh held it before the disso- 
lution of that priory. The waters are beautifully clear and trans- 
parent, the resort of numerous wild-fowl, and well stocked with 
pike. 



MUUttont ©Uff. 

To describe the prospect from the top of this cliff is an impossi- 
bility ; it must be seen to be properly appreciated, and once seen, 
will not readily be forgotten. Standing with our faces to the 
west, the mountain edge bends round with a grand semicircular 
sweep to the high and broken cliff already mentioned, called 
Koulston Scar ; the two promontories on the sides of a bay, now 
dry, but at one time filled by the waters of a tumultuous sea, 
which overspread the level plain below, and dashed its cold waves 
against these lofty rocks. Another bold reach stretches north- 
ward, and terminates beyond the long plain at Boltby Scar. 

The cliff is -of limestone, and derives its name from its colour — 
"White-stone Cliff. The appellation "White Mare, sometimes given 
to it, is said to be from an unruly racer of that colour, which 
broke from the training ground near at hand, and with her rider 
leaped down the cliff. A doggerel rhyme, current in the neigh- 
bourhood, says, — 

When Hambleton Hills are covered with corn and hay, 
The white mare of Whit's n' cliff will lead it away. 

The front of the rock is about two hundred feet in perpendi- 
cular height, composed of jagged and fractured oolitic limestone, 
in beds varying from one foot to four in thickness. The length 
of the naked rock is about five hundred yards, but these measures 
are only approximations, and do not pretend to exactness. Im- 
mense heaps of rock have fallen from the face of the cliff at dif- 
ferent times, and lie piled in confusion at the bottom. The last 
and most remarkable fall was on March 25th, 1755, when loud 
reports, like the explosions of cannon, were heard to issue from 
the cliff; soon after masses of rock, from fifty to sixty feet in 



HAMBLETON HILLS. 355 

thickness, were torn off and hurled into the valley with a noise 
like the eruption of a volcano.* Traces of this yet appear in the 
face of the cliff, and in the blocks of freshly broken stone at its 
base. 

" Steep is the western side, shaggy and wild, 
With mossy trees and pinnacles of flint, 
And many a hanging- crag " 

At the foot of the cliff, about midway of its length, is a natural 
cave among the rocks, called " The Fairies' Parlour f the upper 
part or roof appears to have been formed by the accidental falling 
together of large fragments of rock, and the cave itself is only one 
of those natural fissures, common in all limestone districts.: it 
is about six feet wide at the bottom, by about twenty yards in 
length, of a wedge shape. 

The top of this precipice forms the commencement of another 
level district, the land high and dry, stretching away with a 
gentle slope towards the east. The hills seen in the distance 
appear all of nearly equal altitude, mostly with a level area on 
the top. 

Deviating a little from our course along the edge of the hill, a 
few fields east of the AVhitestone Cliff, we come upon a barrow, 

* For the fullest account extant of the fall of this cliff, we give the following ex- 
tract from John Wesley's Journal, vol II., p. 285 ; it is evidently much exaggerated : — 

1755. On Thursday, March 25th, many persons observed a great noise near a ridge 
of mountains in Yorkshire, called Black Hamilton. It was observed chiefly in the 
south-west side of the mountain, about a mile from the course where the Hamilton 
races are run, near a ridge of rocks called Whiston Cliffs, or Whiston White Mare, 
two miles from Sutton, about five from Thirsk. The same noise was heard on Wed- 
nesday by all who went that way. On Thursday, about seven in the morning, 
Edward Abbot, weaver, and Adam Bosomworth, bleacher, both of Sutton, riding 
under Whiston Cliffs, heard a roaring (as they termed it) like many cannons, or loud 
and rolling thunder. It seemed to come from the cliffs, looking up to which, they 
saw a large body of stone, four or five yards broad, split and fly off from the very top 
of the rocks. They thought it strange, but rode on. Between ten and eleven, a 
larger piece of the rock, about fifteen yards thick, thirty high, and between sixty and 
seventy broad, was torn off and thrown into the valley. About seven in the evening, 
one who was riding by observed the ground to shake exceedingly, and soon after 
several large stones or rocks, of some tons weight each, rose out of the ground. 
Others were thrown on one side, others turned upside down, and many rolled over 
and over ; being a little surprised, and not very curious, he hasted on his way. 

On Friday and Saturday the ground continued to shake, and the rocks to roll over 
one another. The earth also clave asunder in very many places, and continued to do 
so until Sunday morning. 



356 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

far the largest we have seen upon this hill, it heing no less than 
ninety yards in circumference, and at least twelve feet in height, 
made up of small stones and earth: like many others it has a 
hasin-shaped cavity on its summit. 

The universality of these mounds as funeral monuments is very 
remarkable : they are found scattered nearly all over the world, 
and appear to have been erected with care and preserved with 
reverence by the early inhabitants of nearly all countries.* 

As the bulk of the barrow is said to indicate the consequence of 
the person buried beneath, he who sleeps under " this heap of 
gathered ground" must have been chief of the clan dwelling here; 
but whosoever he was, " he had no poet and is dead," and his 
burial mound " is now a nameless barrow." 

Extending northwards from the Whitestone Cliff is the Long 
Plain, noted as a training ground for race horses, a purpose for 
which it is well adapted, being a mile at least in length, and of 
ample breadth, the surface level and dry, covered with short, 
tough, benty grass. Along the middle of this level area, and 
about two hundred yards from the edge of the hill, runs a kind of 
broad, shallow trench, evidently of artificial formation ; judging 
from what remains, it has been about eight feet in width, divided 
into compartments of about the same length ; the divisions be- 
tween the different pits are about three feet thick. This is, 
almost beyond a doubt, the site of a British village, — the different 

* " There are few finer prospects than that of Woronitz, viewed a few versts from 
the town on the road to Paulovsky. Throughout the whole of this country are seen, 
dispersed over immense plains, mounds of earth covered with fine turf; the sepul- 
chres of the ancient world, common to almost every habitable country. If there 
exist anything of former times which may afford monuments of antedeluvian man- 
ners, it is this mode of burial. They seem to mark the progress of population in the 
first ages after the dispersion — rising wherever the posterity of Noah came. Whe- 
ther under the form of a mound in Scandinavia and .Russia ; a barrow in England ; 
a cairn in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland ; or of those heaps which the modern Greeks 
call Tepe ; or lastly, of the more artificial shape of a pyramid in Egypt, — they had 
universally the same origin. They present the simplest and sublimest monument 
which any generation could raise over the bodies of their progenitors ; calculated 
for almost endless duration, and speaking a language more impressive than the most 
studied epitaph on Parian marble. When beheld in a distant evening horizon, 
skirted by the rays of a setting sun, and, as it were, touching the clouds which 
hover over them, imagination pictures the spirits of heroes of remote periods de- 
scending to irradiate a warrior's grave." — Clarke's Travels in Russia. 



HAMBLETON HILLS. 357 

compartments in the trench, were their dwellings. Their appear- 
ance agrees with the accounts given of British hahitations hy the 
Roman historians. The houses were sunk into the earth, and a 
slight wattled superstructure "built over them, which was thatched 
with straw, or covered with sods.* Such pits as these are nu- 
merous in Yorkshire, especially in the eastern moorlands, on the 
borders of Cleveland, and on the moors a few miles west of 
Whitby. Around Roseberry Topping they are to be seen in 
great abundance ; the hollows are many of them of greater size 
than these, but the situation is somewhat similar. 

On the same plain, almost close to the pit dwellings, are five 
barrows, serving further to strengthen the view already taken of 
the British origin of these works. " From the hut of the living 
it is but a step to the house of the dead." 

At the end of the " Long Plain," and partly in a small planta- 
tion of firs, is a circular encampment, comprising more than an acre, 
surrounded with a formidable earthen embankment : in the centre 
of the area is a large barrow. This has probably been a fortified 
camp, into which the inhabitants of the adjacent village could 
retire in case of sudden surprise, and where, probably, their wealth 
was deposited. This work is just above the edge of the preci- 
pitous cliff called Boltby Scar. The line of pit dwellings is to be 
seen in an enclosed allotment to the north of the Long Plain, and 
perhaps further still, but there the hand of cultivation has marred 
its distinctness. It is only in such places as this, where the plough 
has never passed, that we find any extensive remains of the dwel- 
lings of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. 

We pass another tumulus, a trench and mound, before we reach 
a farm house on the edge of the hill, called the Wild Goose Nest. 



* " British villages are groups of shallow pits, or rather of bowl-shaped excavations 
on the surface of the ground." — JVrighVs Celt, %c, p. 87. 

" Of these humble structures we have only the foundations. The ground is exca- 
vated in a circular shape so as to make a pit from six to eight, or even sixteen or 
eighteen feet in diameter, with a raised border, and of the depth of three, four, or 
five feet. Over this cavity we must suppose the branches of trees placed to form a 
conical roof, which perhaps might be made weatherproof by wattling,— a covering of 
rushes or sods."— Phillips' Rivers, %c, of Yorkshire, p. 202. 



358 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

About two miles further north the turnpike road crosses the hill 
from Kepwick to Arden and Helmsley. About a hundred yards 
south of this road, on the common, near the first enclosure going 
eastward, are the remains of a number of pit dwellings, extending 
in a line eastward, and a mound and trench running south-west 
to a considerable distance. In short, hardly a prominent emi- 
nence is seen in all this dry region where the limestone appears 
near the surface, without a barrow, dike, or earthwork of some 
kind, memorial of its early inhabitants. 

The next object of interest to the traveller along this mountain 
road is a small public house, situated more than a mile from any 
neighbour, called " the Limekiln House ; " probably the builder 
intended it as an Hospital of St. Bernard to the wayfarers in this 
wild region, or perhaps he had heard of those " who built them- 
selves houses in desolate places," and strove to imitate them. The 
road past it was formerly much frequented by drovers, who carried 
their cattle along this wild no-road to avoid the payment of tolls 
to which they would have been subjected when passing along the 
public roads. From its height, 1148 feet above the level of the 
sea, the cultivation of corn cannot be carried on profitably, although 
the soil is of good quality. Its situation exposes it to every tem- 
pest, at the same time it must be one of the places first illumined 
by the sun in the morning, and last left to darkness in the evening. 

North of the public house, Hambleton assumes a more rugged 
and forbidding aspect, covered with peat of great thickness, and 
blackened over with ling of large growth, and does not present 
anything very interesting except to the sportsman. The hills 
north of " Hambleton-end " have different names, as — ArnclifTe 
and the " Banks," named from the different villages in Cleveland 
to which they are nearest. Wild as the road is we have passed 
along, it is probably the route taken by the Scottish army under 
Robert Bruce, in 1322, when they pursued the retreating army of 
the English under Edward II., and overtook and defeated it near 
Byland Abbey. There is yet a tradition in Cleveland of a Scottish 
army passing through Scarth Nick, a narrow gorge at the northern 
end of this mountain road, and that the commanders were in such 



HAMBLETON HILLS. 359 

haste, that they obliged the inhabitants to accompany them with 
torches during the night to shew the road, and that the Scots 
were much bewildered in the dark and narrow pass, by the torch 
bearers simultaneously extinguishing their lights. 

When the keen north wind is whistling, and the snow drift 
gathering, it is not very pleasant dwelling among these hills ; but 
in the summer season, on a fine day, a more agreeable ramble 
cannot well be imagined than that we have followed ; the scenery 
of the country below, viewed from such a lofty position, is alone 
worth the labour of the ascent, and we can bear witness to the 
kindness and hospitality of the inhabitants. 



APPENDIX. 

NO. I. 

The following enumeration and valuation of the estates of Roger de 
Mowbray, at the time of his decease, is from a paper in possession of 
Frederick Bell, Esq., Lord of the Manor of Thirsk, which has been 
copied in the reign of Queen Elizabeth from the records in the Tower 
of London : — 

Inquisition post mortem made of the knights' fees, church livings, 
&c, of Roger de Mowbray, at the time of his death, made in York, the 
8th day of May, 29th of Edward I., A.D. 1300, on the oaths of 
William de Castleley, Ade de Winkesley, William Grafford, Richard son 
of Ralph de Kirkbye, Robert de Colton, Roger Rabbott, Robert Foxe, 
Henry de Haasham, Henry de Colton, William son of Ralph de Thock- 
with, John Scott de Cawode, and William de Cawode, who say that 
William de Aldfield held of Roger de Mowbray at the time of his de- 
cease, three carucates of land in Aldfield and Stodley, as the fourth part 
of a knight's fee, worth 6/. per ann. Agnes fili John de Stodley held 
three carucates of land, in Stodley, as the fourth part of a knight's fee, 
worth 6/. per ann. John filius Alan de Walkingham held two carucates 
of land and two mills (duo molendi) in Acerh and Kirkebye, as the sixth 
part of a knight's fee, worth \0L per ann. Roger de Boltoft and Thomas 
de Boltoft held two carucates of land in Acerh and Kirkebye, as the sixth 
part of a knight's fee, worth 41. per ann. John de Walkingham held 
one carucate of land in Braithwit, as the eighth part of a knight's fee, 
worth 40*. per ann. Richard Folliott held one carucate and a half of 
land in Winkesley, as the thirty-sixth part of a knight's fee, worth 60s. 
per ann. Robert de Nonewick Jun. held one carucate of land in Ket- 
tesmore, as the twentieth part of a knight's fee, worth 20s. per ann. The 
Abbot of Fountains held three carucates of land in Swetton, Carlemore, 
and Kirkebye, as the fifty-third part of a knight's fee, worth 30s. per 
ann. The same Abbot held two carucates of land in Grewelthorpe, as 
the eighth part of a knight's fee, worth 41. per ann. Isabella Le Grace 
and Thomas de la Christene held two carucates of land in Grantley, as 
the sixth part of a knight's fee, worth 40s per ann. Alan le Oyselour 
held one bovate of land in Kirkebye, as the ninety- sixth part of a 
knight's fee, worth 5s. per ann. Honoribus Benesit held half a carucate 



APPENDIX. 361 

of land in Grewelthorpe, as the twenty-fourth part of a knight's fee, 
worth 20s. per ami. The Prior of Newbrough held one carucate of land 
in Mikelhowe, as the twelfth part of a knight's fee, worth 40s. per ann. 
John de Belaaqua held three carucates of land in Greenhamerton, one 
carucate of land in Quixley, one carucate of land in Usburn, two caru- 
cates of land in Allerton, one carucate of land in Hoperton, one carucate 
of land in Clareton, and two carucates of land in Welenenton, as the 
sixteenth part of a knight's fee, worth 22/. per ann. William Birnell 
held four carucates of land in Brunton, as two-and-a-half parts of a 
knight's fee, worth 8/. John de Elton held one carucate and a half 
of land in South Helyn, as the sixtieth part of a knight's fee, worth 
60s. per ann. Michael de Barton held one carucate of land in Barton, 
as the thirtieth part of a knight's fee, worth 60s. per annum. Juliana 
de Besingley held half a carucate of land in Holme, as the fortieth part 
of a knight's fee, worth 40s. per ann. John de Nyvyle held sixteen 
carucates of land in Slingsby, as one knight's fee, worth 16/. per ann. 
Johanna Wake held five carucates in Slingsby, as the fifth part of a 
knight's fee, worth 10/. per ann. Ernulphus de Percey held three 
carucates of land in Fryton, as the mediety of one knight's fee, worth 
6/. per ann. Matthew de Loveyn held two carucates and six oxgangs of 
land in Fryton, as the mediety of one knight's fee, worth 6/. per ann. 
The same Matthew held two carucates of land in Holthorp, as the four- 
teenth part of one knight's fee, worth 4s. per ann. John de Elton held 
two carucates of land in Gillenge, as the tenth part of a knight's fee, 
worth 40s. per ann. Walter Barri held one carucate of land in Gillenge, 
as the twentieth part of a knight's fee, worth 21s. per ann. John de 
Wyvyle held three carucates of land in Colton in Ridale, as the fourth 
part of a knight's fee, worth 21s. per ann. Johanna Wake held six 
carucates of land in Calveton, as the mediety of one knight's fee, worth 
12/. per ann. Walter de Taye held one carucate of land in Stayngreve, 
as the sixth part of a knight's fee, worth 40s. per ann. Johanna Wake 
held four carucates of land in Moscotes, as the third part of a knight's 
fee, worth 6/. per ann. Miles de Stapleton and Agnes de Bulford held 
four carucates of land in Wymbleton, as the half of a knight's fee, worth 
40s. per ann. Johanna Wake held in the villas of Kirkeby Moorshend, 
Gillingemore, and Fadmore, ten knights' fees, worth 100/. per ann. 
Robert le Constable held two carucates of land in Betterwick, as the 
tenth part of one knight's fee, worth 40s. per ann. Richard Malebisse 
held the villas of Scakeleton, Dale, and Halmebye, as one knight's fee, 
worth 6/. per ann. John de Bela aqua held the manor of Thorpe Arche 
with the vill. of Walton, as one knight's fee, worth 20/. per ann. Ranul- 
phus de Albo Monasterio held the villas of Whitehale and Esdicke, as 
half a knight's fee, worth xiij/. vjs. viijd. per ann. John son of Alan de 



362 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Walkingham and John de Grameri held the vill. of Bickerton, as half a 
knight's fee, worth 10/. per ann. Richard de Wayleys held a mediety 
of the vill. of Helawe, as the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth 100s. 
per ann. William le Vavasoure held a mediety of the vill. of Helawe, as 
the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth 100s. per ann. In witness of 
the truth of the above inquisition, the seals of the parties are appended. 
The value of the aforesaid fees is cccii, xxd. 

By inquisition post mortem held in Threske, the ninth day after the 
feast of St. Barnabas, in the 29th of Edward I., A.D. 1300, on the 
oaths of Roger Rabbott, William Talenacre, William Kok, Ralph Kirke- 
ton, William de Sutton, William de Seefield, Roger de Stapleton, Wil- 
liam Le Hunt, Ralph Grave, Richard de Kilborne, William Le currier, 
and Robert Yoll, who say that Symond de Stotevyle held of Roger de 
Mowbray three carucates of land in Langethorpe, as the fourth part of a 
knight's fee, worth cs. per ann. John Perche held three carucates of 
land in Hundesburton, as the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth cs. per 
ann. Radus de Nevyle held six carucates of land in Kepwick, as half a 
knight's fee, worth xli. per ann. John de Ruddeston held six carucates 
of land in Hay ton, as half a knight's fee, worth xli. per ann. Thomas 
the heir of Michael Grendale held five carucates of land in Garton sup. 
W 7 aldes, as half a knight's fee, worth xli. per ann. John de Euyle held 
the manors of Kilburne, Thornton-super-le-Hill, and Alingsleth, as two 
and a half knight's fees, worth Hi. per ann. William de Busci held the 
manor of Thirkleby and villages of Osgateby and Aekon, as one knight's 
fee, worth xxli. per ann. Thomas de la Riverie held the manor of 
Brandsby and the villages of Steresby and Brafferton, as one knight's 
fee, worth xxli. per ann. Brian son of Alan held a mediety of the vill. 
of Baynton, as the half of one knight's fee, worth xli. per ann. Walter 
de Carleton held three carucates of land in Carleton and Islebeck, as one 
third part of a knight's fee, worth iiij/i. per ann. The same Walter held 
three carucates of land in Hoton, as the fourth part of a knight's fee, 
worth iiij/i. per ann. William de Norton held one carucate of land in 
Carlton, as the twelfth part of a knight's fee, worth xxs. per ann. John 
Talenacre held two oxgangs of land in Tresk, as the sixty-fourth part of a 
knight's fee, worth xiijs. iiijd. per ann. John de Blayby held the manor 
of Baggeby, as the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth iiijft. per ann. 
William Le Grey held the manor of Sandhoton, as the half of a knight's 
fee, worth xli. William de Vescy de Kildare held the manor of Bromp- 
ton, as one knight's fee, worth xxli. per ann. The same William held the 
villas, of Soureby and Brakenbero, as one and a half knight's fees, worth 
xxxli. per ann. The same William held the villas of Lameton and Win- 
teringham, as two knights' fees, worth xj/i. per ann. The same William 



APPENDIX. 363 

held the villas of Southcaveesset and Swanysland, as three knights' fees, 
worth ]xli. per ann. The same William held the manor of Newsom on 
Spaldingmore, as one knight's fee, worth xxli. per ann. The same 
William held the manor of Malton, as two knights' fees, worth xlli. per 
ann. The total value of all the aforesaid knights' fees is ccclxxiij/i. 
They also say that Roger de Mowbray, at the time of his decease, was 
possessed of no church livings. In witness of this thing, the seals of the 
said jurors are appended. 



NO. II. 

Of the extent and value of the Yorkshire estates, thus restored to the 
rightful heir, we are enabled to give the following ample account from a 
record preserved in the Tower of London. 

By Inquisition held in Threske, the ninth day after the feast of the An- 
nunciation of the Blessed Virgin, in the first of Edward III., A.D. 1326^ 
in obedience tothe king's letters, before Symon de Grimesby on the oaths 
of William de Aldfield, William Russell, William de Somminge, Thomas 
de Winksley, William Russell, Junr., John de Cokewald, Peter Copgrave, 
Richard son of John, William son of Godfrey, John Ward, Richard 
Sherrow, and Richard Masham, Junr., who say that the late John de 
Mowbray at the time of his death was possessed of the underwritten fees. 

The fees that belonged to the Manor of Threske, 

Thomas le Wake held in the manor of Kirkebye Morshend, Cropton, 
and other places in the county of York, seven knights' fees and a half, 
worth cmc. per ann. Gilbert de Alton held in Welthonie, Sutton and 
other places, one knight's fee, worth xli. per ann. The same Gilbert 

held of the heirs of Vescy in Brompton and Winteringham and 

other places, twelve fees and a half, worth cmc. per ann. Radulphus de 
Nevill held in Kepwick and other places, half a knight's fee, worth \xs, 
per ann. Ancherus son of Henry, held in Thorpe Arche, and other 
places, three knights' fees and a half, worth xlmc. per ann. Nycholus de 
Stapleton held in Thorpe Arche, Tokwith, Merston and other places, 
three knights' fees and a half, worth x\mc. per ann. Radus de Albo 
Monasterio, held in Wighall and Esdike, the fourth part of a knight's 
fee, worth \mc. per ann. Richard Waleys held in Helawe and Folifait, 
three-fourths of a knight's fee, worth cs. per ann. Robert de Eynill 
held in Kilburn, Thornton-super Monte and other places, three knights' 
fees and a half, worth x\mc. per ann. William de Wyvill held in Slingsby, 



364 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Colton, Sledmare and other places, three knights' fees, worth xlmc per 
ann. William Latymer held in Scameston, Braunyton and other places, 
six carucates of land, where twenty carucates make a knight's fee, worth 
Ixs. per ann. William de Malebays held in Skaleton, Halmebye and 

other places, one knight's fee, worth xmc. per ann and in other 

places, one knight's fee, worth xli. per ann. Thomas de Sheffield held in 
Bainton, half a knight's fee, worth xmc. per ann. John Miniot held in 
Charleton, Hyton, and Islebeck, the third part of a knight's fee, worth 
Ixs per ann. John de Weaxhand held in Threske, one carucate of land* 
where sixteen carucates make a fee, worth xxs. per ann. John de Wauton 
held in Fryton and Helthorp, three parts of one fee, worth cs. per ann. 
The same John held in Thurkleby and Osgateby, one knight's fee, worth 
cs. per ann. Wilham de Ros held in Holme, the eighth part of a knight's 
fee, worth xxs. per ann. The Prior of Newburgh held in Ulneston, the 
fourth part of a knight's fee, worth xxvs. per ann. Henry de Percye 
held in Arlethorpe, the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth xxs. per ann. 
John de Walkingham held in Bikerton, the fourth part of a knight's fee, 
worth xx*. per ann. John de Colevill held in Cokewald, half a knight's 
fee, worth 1*. per ann. Thomas de Colevill held in Oversley, the fourth 
part of a knight's fee, worth xxvs. per ann. Thomas de Elton held in 
Gillingholme and Kirkebye-subtus-Knoll, one knight's fee, worth cs. per 
ann. John Moryn held in Hundeburton, the fourth part of a knight's 
fee, worth xxvs. per ann. Huco Castelyon held in Carleton, four ox- 
gangs of land, where sixteen carucates make a knight's fee, worth xxs. 
per ann. John de Rudston held in Hayton, six carucates of land, where 
twelve carucates make a knight's fee, worth xxxs. per ann. William de 
Bessingbye held in Hovingham, ten oxgangs of land, where twelve caru- 
cates make a knight's fee, worth xxs. per ann. John de Rellington held 
in Threske, two oxgangs of land, where sixteen carucates make a knight's 
fee, worth xiijs. iiijd. per ann. John Rabott held in Hovingham, one 
oxgang of land, where twelve carucates make a knight's fee, worth x\d. 
per ann. William Plane held in Norton, six oxgangs of land, where 
twelve carucates make a knight's fee, worth xxs. per ann. Michael de 
Flaxton held in Sandhoton, one carucate, where twelve carucates make a 
knight's fee, worth xxs. per ann. John de Breton held in Mildeley, one 
carucate of land, where twelve carucates make a knight's fee, worth xs. 
per ann. The Abbot de Rupa held one knight's fee in Armsthorpe, 
worth xli. per ann. Thomas de Greenedale held in Garton, six carucates 
of land, where twelve make a knight's fee, worth xxs. per ann. 

The Knights 1 fees belonging to the Manor of Kirhebye Malafort. 

John de Wanton held the manor of Masham, as one knight's fee, worth 
cs. per ann. The Abbot of Fountains held in Slenningforth, Grantley 



APPENDIX. 365 

and other places, the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth xxvs. per ann. 
John de Walkingham held in Braithweit, one carucate of land where 
twelve carucates make a knight's fee, worth xs. per ann. John G'ras 
held in Grantley and other places, half a carucate of land, where twelve 
carucates make a knight's fee, worth xs. per ann. Roger de Nonewick 
held half a carucate of land in Ketsemore, where twelve carucates make a 
knight's fee, worth \mc. per ann. Dns. Andreas de Merkenfield held in 
Winkesley, half a carucate of land, worth \mc. per ann. "William de 
Aldfield held in Aldfield and other places, the fourth part of a knight's 
fee, worth xxvs. per ann. Thomas de Boltoft held in Azerley, the 
twentieth part of a knight's fee, worth vs. per ann. William Russell 
held in Azerley, half a carucate of land, where twelve carucates make a 
knight's fee, worth vs. per ann. John de Wareyne held in Stodley Roger, 
the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth xxvs. per ann. Peter de Shypton 
held in Wynkesley, half a carucate of land, where twelve carucates make 
a knight's fee, worth vs. per ann. John de Cokewald held in Azerley, 
two oxgangs of land, worth x\d. per ann. Nicholus Lamberd held three 
acres of land, worth Ixxxd. per ann. Richard de Faurner held in 
Riggeton, the fourth part of a knight's fee, worth xxvs. per ann. 
Richard le Gray, held in Landforth of the aforesaid John de Mowbray, 
one knight's fee, worth xxli. per ann. 



NO. III. 
KIRBEKNOWLE. 



The manor or lordshipp of Kirbeknowle, with all the members thereto. 
To thys manor thaire is belonginge an Mancion house of a great hight 
and length pasying beautiful of itselfe and faire of prospecte. Whaito 
belonges one goodlye haulle, great chaulmer, parler, and bed chaulmer, 
with a noumber of other pleasaunt loogyng e and chambrg e . One studie, 
Chapell and amories, Gallerie, Kytchinge, Butterie, Seller, Pantre, 
Wyne Seller, porterluge, Bakehouse, Brewhouse, and Larder in propor- 
tion, quadrand, covered with leade, and well glasyned. Begune by the 
forsaid Sir John Constable, knight. 

Courte Leite. 
To the same manor belonges an Courte Leite cum visu franc pleg. 
whareunto belong all regalites, worthe by yeare iijs. iiijd. 

Courte Baron. 
To the same manor thayre belonges an Court Baron yearlye for dette 
betwene parties worthe ijs. \]d. 



366 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 



The Parke. 

To thys manor appertayneth an Parke wharin ys great stoore of ffallow 
deere and woodd of all sort! Oke, Byrke, and Aler, whiche contaynes 
vj c xlv acres one half and a perche of marvellus pleasande medowe and 
pasture, every acre well worth iijs. iiijd. in all by yeare after the same 
rate cvij/i. xs. whareof thaire ys in the lorde's owne occupacion theise 
parcelles followinge viz* the Grene close, Upsall fflatte, and an little 
close adjoyeninge on the Braugh at iiij/i. xiijs. iiijd. by yeare. One pas- 
ture called the Storth at xliijs. iiijd. Also certayne closes laite pcell of 
Toddes ffermolde called Braunte Triales with the West ffelde raited by 
yeare at viij/i. Also an little close called Braunt trilay sumetyme percell 
of the parsonage rated at xiijs. iiijd. Oone grounde or close called the 
Stainhed by yeare xxxs. One close called the Reilybodome of pasture 
by yeare ■ Ane pasture called Stonkelay by year lxvjs. viijd. 

One percell of grounde cald the Birkebank rated at xxvjs. viijc?. One 
grounde called the Knowle by yeare xs, Ane parcell of grounde called 
the Hagge by yeare vjs. viijd. And a p'cell of grounde called the Knowle 
leis sumtyme in the parsons oune hande or occupation and parcel of the 
parsonage worth by yeare xxxs. in all after the rent yt ys nowe paid 
yearly xxv')li. xs. 

Edmunde Danbie haithin his occupacion one parcell of the same Parke 
called the Steneyfeldes and paeth by yeare at the fTeaste of Saincte 
Michaell onlie and oure Ladie day in Lente by equall portions iiij/t. 
xiijs. i\\]d. Also ane p'cell of grounde calde Bauntry ley painge at the 
said ffeast xlvjs. viij<2. And ane parcell of grounde called the South 
ffeilde painge thairfo at the same ffest by even portions lxvjs. viijd. in 
all by yeare xli. vjs. viijd, 

Robert Yorke holdes parcell of the same parke called the Summer 
close, the midle close, the high Batterie cloose, the lawe Battrie close 
painge at the forsaid feastes by even portions in the yeare \}li. iijs. v]d. 

Anthone Abbott holdes parcell of the same parke which is callid most 
commonlye Hotchgarth, Painge at the forsaid ffeastes vs. 

John Todde holdes one Tennement thaire with the purtenannce par- 
cell of the same Parke, called the Orchett, the high Flake, Clay hill, 
Tutehill, Chalk close, Colmen close, Hey close, and Harruske, painge 
thairfor at the forsaid fFeas by even portions viij/i. xs. 

Mychaell Yorke holdes certayne grounde of the same Parke called 
the Orchetts, Brodefeilde, they Ley ffeilde, Calfe close, and the fFarre 
feilde painge thairefor at the forsaid ffeastes by even portions ixli. 

Myles Almone holds certayne landes thaire parcell of the same Parke, 
the Southe ffelde and a close named Cocknynge paing at the forsaid 
ffeastes by even portions vJi. 



APPENDIX. 367 

Wyllm Todde holdes certayne landes thaire parcell of the said Parke, 
called moste commonlye the Wandelies, Lickmanbutt, or the Claihill 
Calfe Closse, Southe feildes, and the Wood close painge as before xj/i. 
xiiijs. \d. 

Margaret Dente holdes parcell of the same Parke called the Hagge 
leis and paieth at the forsaid fieastes xls. 

George Spetche holdes one parcell of the same Parke wiche is moste 
commonlie called the Butterie close painge as above xvs. 

Betteres Wairde holds one parcell of grounde called the Carre close 
parcell of the same Parke painge at the forsaid feasts xliijs. Vnjd. 

Christoffer Thorpe holdes one parcell of the fforsaid Parke laite in the 
lorde's owen occupacion called the Cockepool and the South ffeild painge 
yearlie at the forsaid ffeastes in even portions iiijft. 

The totall sume of all the fforsaid Parke as well \ 
of that in the Lordes hande as the Tennaunt, paid > iiij#«r. vj7i. vijs. xjd. 
at this dale ys J 

Mile* 

To thys manor belonges ane warter mille in the tenure or occutyen of 
one Michael Yorke painge at Penthicoste and Saincte Martyne by even 
portions thairfor x\s. 

The total sume of the forsaide Mannor with the "i 
courte leete and Baron ys by yeere j lxxxvi J#- m*- ix <*. 

The donation of the Parsonage of Kyrbehnoole and Bagbie. 
Unto this manor there belongeth the donation of the parsonage of 
Kirbeknoole and Bagbie tyme oute of mynde. Wharto belong 1 ? ane fete 
house with haulle, chalmer, parler, butterie, and other houses : an orchet 
and two gardinges in metlie reperatianes standinge nere the paile of the 
Parke now in thuse of George Welles,f parson thaire. 

Glebe. 
To this parsonage belongeth an Gleebe, viz. certen lands and closes 
called the Southe rielde worth by yeare liijs. n\jd. Anderson's Close by 
yeare xxxs. Lugdaite close by yeare xxiiijs. iiij^. Bastikelde by yeare 
xx*. Knoole leises by yeare xxxs. Braunte Trite by yeare xiijs. iiij^. 
which twoo groundes are in occupacion of Sir John Constable and 
charged before in the title of the Parke, and the Crofte by yeare xs. in 
the said parson's occupacion, in all by the yeare ixli. 

• This mill was standing in 1590 ; it was at length hurned down hy accident, and never rebuilt. 
The site can yet easily be traced in the grass field near the Church, by the mound of the dam, and 
hollow of the mill race. 

t George Welles was rector of Kirkby Knowle from 1575 to T615. 



368 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Thirshe and Carleton. 

To the Parsonage belonges ane litle garth in the toune of Thirske 
worth by yeare xxs. and a parcel of grounde called Douthewell fflatt 
wharin he haith the gaite or fedinge of x gaites or beastes everie gaite 

rated at iiijs. on beast in all xls. and when the occupies the same 

in cornne than the parson haith the tithe thairof worthe in 

all and the tithe come of iij oxgaites of ane farmolde in 

Charlton of arabile land in the occupace of one worthe 

by year vs. in all. 

Haye. 

Unto the same parsonage thaire belong 1 } the tithe haye of the Toune 
of Kirbeknoole worth by yeare xxvjs viijd. and the tithe haye of Bag- 
bie worth by yeare lxvjs. viijd. in all iiij/e. xiijs. iiij^. 

Come. 
To the same parsonage belongeth the tithe corne of Bagbie worth by 
yeare xli. and likewise the tithe corne of Ysbie or Islebe the tithe have 
lentronbooke lame calfe et ug by yeare xls. in all xijli. 

Lentroribooke. 
Thare is yearlie ane with ane oter in Kirbeknoole of houslers lx every 
one a f , \]d. in all xs. and the lente booke worthe xxs. in all xxxs. and 
houslen in Bagbie an c at ijd. in all xvjs. viijd. and the lent booke thaire 
is worth xxx*. in all xlvjs. viijd. so by yeare lxxvjs. viijtf. 

Calves 8c Lambes. 

Thayre is yearlie vj calves in Kirbeknoole everie calve vs. in all xvs. 
and viij lambes everie lambe worth xxd. in all xiijs. iiijd. by yeare 
xxviijs. iiijd. At Bagbie iij calves everie calve vs. in all xvs. and vj 
lambes. everie lambe worth xxd. in all xiijs. iiijrf. for the yeare xxviijs. 
iiijd. in all lvjs. viijd. 

Pigges 8c Geese. 

Thaire ys off hennes in Kirbiknoole xv hennes worth vs 

vj worthe ijs. and Geese v, worth is. v]d. in all \xs in the 

towne of Bagbie of hennes xxx worth xs. pigges vj. worth ijs. and Geese 
fyve worth ijs. v]d. in all xiijs. v]d. by yeare xxij*. vjd. 

Wolle, Bees fy Flaxe. 

To the same parsonage belongs the tithe wolle of Kirbeknoole viz. one 
year with ane other iiij stones every stone worthe vs. in all xxs. And 
yearlie Bagbie iiij stoone worthe vs. a stone xxs. in all xls. 

The totall sume of all the forsaid Parsonage Ilebeck ) . ,. ... , 

and Bagbie with Glybe therto belonginge j 



APPENDIX. (569 

Kirbeknoole Tonne. 

Edward Danbie holdes one Tennement thaire wharto belonges ane 
Orchett Garth and ane close called the North ffeilde, which is of landes 
arable meadowe and pasture painge at Penticost and Sainte Martye 
y e bishopp by even portions lxxviijs. \\\]d. 

Robert Yorke holds one tenement thair wharto belonges j orchette, 
j Garthe and ij closes called the hawlle garthe and the North ffeilde 
painge at the forsaid ffestes by even portions xxxijs. \\d. 

Antonye Abbott holds one tennement thaire wharto belonges ij garthes 
and ane close called Galtay with an other parcel of ground named the 
Hagge painge at the forsaid ffeast lviijs. iiijd. 

Mychaell Yoorke holdes on tennement thaire called the Helme of iiij 
acres of pasture painge at the said ffeast xxs. 

Wylyam Smyth holdes one tennement with the purtenaunces wharto 
belong^ viij acres of lande percell of the common measured by itselfe as 
appers after. One Orchett, ane Alergarth, and a Cunye garthe painge 
at the forsaid ffeast x\s. 

Richard Riley houldes one Tennemente thaire wharto belonges ij 
Orchett and ij Garthes painge at the same ffeast e xxs. 

Wylyam Todde holdes one Tennement thair called the Haulle flatte 
and ij garthes painge at the same ffeast e cs. 

Margaret Dent houldes one Tennement thaire j close calde the Northe 
feelde & y e utter Allergarthe at the same ffeast \s. 

George Spetche holdes one Tennement thaire wharto belongs ij yards 
and ane orchett painge at the forsaid ffeast xxxs. 

Betteres Wairde holdes one Tennement thaire wharto belonges j garthe 
and j orchett painge at the same feast 1*. 

The totall sume off the toune of Kirbeknoole .... xxiijft. xviijs. 

The totall sume of all the forsaid Manor off Kirbe- ) ._ _ 

/ CXl/2 xn 9 viirf 
knoole with all the purtynaunce as the rent y s . now y s j J J J 

The totall sume of all the acres of lande arable, "^ 
meadow, pasture, common of pasture, and the moor 
ys. mijc. liiij. acres and halfe, and v. dais warke 
whiche corns unto, rated at iijs. an acre one withe 
ane other after the newe assize,' the common of 
Kirbe is vjc. ix. acres , u 

Thaire is yearlie to be allowed unto Michell Yorke duringe pleasoure, 
as recompence of his ffee for keeping of the Parke thaire, the rent of the 
waiter mille — by yeare x\s. And thaire y s ane close in his occupacion 
called the Howme, by yeare xxs., in all \xs. 

Thaire y s to be allowed also to Christoffer Thorpe for his ffee for 
keepinge of the Parke duryinge pleasure, to be paid at Whitsontyde and 
Martynmas, by even portions iiij/i. 



1 



Y ciirj><r, viij ft. ij*. 



370 THE VALE OF MOWBRAY. 

Thaire is to be allowed for certeyne grassing and seperred closes, now- 
occupied in Sir John's owen occupation parcell of the forsaid Parke, of 
the yearlie valewe of xxx/f. 

Sm— xxxij/e. 
And so remaynes cleere iij.r#. xixli. xijs. viijd. 

The trew bounder of all the forsaid Lordeshippe of Kirbeknowle as 
ffollowes : — 

Begynninge at the duble dike Nuke of the paile of the newe hnprove- 
mente or of Kyrbeknoole or Upsaull, standinge partelye of the stand by 
Southe stright doune the hill followinge an Warter fall or sik.e till it turne 
unto Knaton edge by ane broode buddie Thorne. Then turning at Naton 

hedge with quickwood of ane longe tyme sett Esterlye by Southe 

till it cum unto the Ridding dike nuke, and so from the Riddynge Dike 
Nuke fFollowinge the same hedge sett with Oiler or saugh on the Southest 
that partes Kirbeknowle ffeilde and the Riddinge till it cum to the 
Southest end thairof called the fTarre ende of the Ingdell. Then, from 
the flare ende of the Ingdell right Northest till it cume unto an place or 
hill syde whare thaire y s yeett an olde Ooke yate to be kende betweene 
the Ridding s Geates. And so frome the same rute or olde stumpe upon 
the North Est partelye and by north to one hill or Pike called Seato Pike 
Then from the saide Pike or hill full Southe unto an olde marche stoon. 
lyenge on the Haggid Myres. And so southe unto ane oder marche 
stone leninge on the West in Gurtu ffelde heede. Then from that marche 
stone South, and by West standing full Southe on the North side of the 
Birkehill. And so from thens unto Bowdebie heddge made of Woodd or 
Rise whare sume tyme thaire stodde ane marche stoone & taken up at 
the hedge-makinge and laid in the same laitely mad. And so turnynge 
downe the same heddge Southe and by West partely till he cum to the 
Storthnuke whaire it festens upon the paile. Then from thende of the 
forsaid Dike turninge withe the Paile Southe unto Bowdebie yaet. And 
so frome the yeat still following the Paile Southe till y 1 cume to mounte 
hodome nuke. Then frome thens South and by West unto the Harmet- 
greene-Nuke standinge on the West. And so to Geldinge cloose nuke 
upon the Northe. And so frome thens Nort and by Est unto the newe 
gaite standinge in Wolmoore on the Duble Dike. And then followinge 
the Paile West and be Northe till y 1 cum to the cornoure of the Dowble 
Dike whare this bounder first beganne. 

THE END. 



A. JOHNSON AND CO., PRINTERS, RIPON. 



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